+
upworthy
Joy

Mom's epic quest to rescue her son's pet frog has become a viral sensation

“This. This is motherhood."

moms of tiktok, frogs as pets, pets, kids, funny tiktoks
@brigthsignslearning/TikTok

Not on my watch!

How’s this for the world’s greatest understatement? Moms do a lot for their kids.

Seriously, beyond the obvious sacrifices of, you know, bringing a child into this world through their own body, moms go to almost cartoonish lengths to keep their little ones happy and safe—quite literally wrangling wild animals if they have to.

Or, in this case, luring them out with crickets.

A mom named Shelby Rideout is going viral on TikTok for hilariously documenting her determination, torment—and ultimately, utter exhaustion—while trying to rescue her son’s pet frog who went rogue by hopping into a nearby hole in the bathroom.

Bizarre? Yes. But still relatable? Absolutely.


The whole fiasco started, apparently, when her son wanted to take the frog (aptly named Kermit) out of his habitat to play in the bathroom. You can see how this would be a recipe for disaster.

“The frog jumps around. Literally three seconds. It jumps to the vanity. There’s a freaking construction hole under the vanity. This big frog jumps and is lost in the wall,” Rideout says in the clip.

With her son in “hysterics” over the M.I.A. amphibian, Rideout became hellbent on saving the day, which is why we find her in the video hunkered down in the bathroom closet, trying to wait Kermit out.

“My son’s asleep in hysterics, thinking he’s going to have a dead frog in the wall — not on my watch,” she declares.

@brightsignslearning I am over 1 hour into a legit stand off. #frog #momlife #longnight #momsoftiktok #fyp #standoff ♬ original sound - brightsignslearning

You’d think a trap with a delicious cricket waiting inside and a bowl of water would do the trick. But sadly, no luck. Rideout even “prayed to Saint Anthony.” Still nadda.

“I wish I could tell you I was joking. I’ve been in the closet for an hour,” she says. But since the frog began popping its head out, there’s no way she can give up.

“This. This is motherhood,” one person commented.

Another hour goes by, and Rideout posts a follow-up video. At this point, her original video has been viewed 8.9 million times.

Voice gravelly, eyes bloodshot, Rideout has tried using various other strategies—more crickets, a plastic fish tank tube, fake sounds to make him think he’s being chased—all to no avail.

Luckily, someone suggests that Rideout turn off the lights to make Kermit more comfortable. Sure enough, that works.

@brightsignslearning UPDATE- Frog in the wall! #momlife #frog #standoff #rescue #momsoftiktok #fyp ♬ original sound - brightsignslearning

“I got him! Got him! I got him! I got him! I got him!” Rideout cries right before admitting, “We had a fish die from mouth to mouth. I could not have two deaths on me this week.” That in itself is a whole other crazy story.

All in all, people were just as thrilled about Rideout’s victory as she was. And they couldn’t help but commend her dedication.

One person wrote, “And the award for the best mom ever goes out to…”

Another added, “Your son will never forget how much effort you put in for him.”

It might not always involve frog rescues, but so many moms out there would do equally crazy things for their kids. God bless their resolve.

True

Larissa Gummy was first introduced to the work of the Peace Corps in high school. All it took was seeing a few photos shared by her ninth-grade teacher, a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, to know that one day, she would follow in those footsteps.

This inspiration eventually led Larissa away from her home in Minnesota to Rwanda in East Africa, to give back to her family’s country of origin and pursue her passion for international development. Though her decision confused her parents at first, they’re now proud and excited to see what their daughter has accomplished through her volunteer work.

And just what was that work? Well, it changed from day to day, but it all had to do with health.

Mostly, Larissa worked for Rwanda’s First 1,000 Days Health project, which aims to improve the conditions that affect the mortality rate of kids within the first 1,000 days of being born (or almost three years old). These conditions include hygiene, nutrition, and prevention of childhood diseases like malaria and acute respiratory infections (ARI). Addressing malnutrition was a particular focus, as it continues to cause stunted growth in 33% of Rwandan children under the age of five.

In partnership with the local health center, Larissa helped with vaccination education, led nutrition classes, offered prenatal care to expecting mothers, and helped support health education in surrounding communities. Needless to say—she stayed busy with a variety of tasks.

Keep ReadingShow less
Identity

13 side-by-side portraits of people over 100 with their younger selves

These powerful before-and-after photos reveal just how beautiful aging can be.


Centenarians — people 100 years or older — are a rarity. Their lives are often scrutinized as holding the key to aging.

Czech photographer Jan Langer's portrait series "Faces of Century" shows them in a different light: as human beings aged by years of experience, but at their deepest level, unchanged by the passing of time.

In the series, Langer juxtaposes his portraits with another portrait of the subject from decades earlier. He recreates the original pose and lighting as closely as he can — he wants us to see them not just as they are now, but how they have and haven't changed over time. That is the key to the series.

Keep ReadingShow less

Woman holds new signs walking in New York causing laughter

There's the old cliché, desperate times call for desperate measures and one woman decided it was time to pull out all the stops. Well, sort of. Karolina Geits was annoyed with dating sites when she and her friends came up with the joke of walking around New York City with a sign that reads, "looking for a husband."

The sign isn't something fancy that they printed up at Office Depot or something. It's just a piece of cardboard with black sharpie writing. Geits, who is a model, debuted the sign in July, racking up more than 6.4 million views on TikTok. Since striking virility, she's taken to filming herself with some pretty eyebrow raising signs.

People walking along the streets seem to be a mixture of confused and amused by these silly signs, which sometimes actually result in money. One of her signs, "need money for a Birkin" had onlookers giggling and some folks forgetting they were in New York traffic while craning their necks to...read her sign. I'm sure.

Keep ReadingShow less

All GIFs and images via Exposure Labs.


Photographer James Balog and his crew were hanging out near a glacier when their camera captured something extraordinary.

They were in Greenland, gathering footage from the time-lapse they'd positioned all around the Arctic Circle for the last several years.

Keep ReadingShow less

A concerned woman gets a DNA test.

A woman, 35, and her husband, 38, had been married for 10 years and during that time became good friends with a neighbor in her 20s. Two years after they met the neighbor she had a son. She said the father wasn’t in the son’s life because he was a one-night fling.

The woman had health issues, so the couple happily took care of the child when she was in the hospital. Sadly, the woman died when the child was young, so the couple became his foster parents and legally adopted him at the age of 7.

Years later, when their adopted son was 10, and their biological child was 5, the mother noticed that both children looked a lot alike. “Now that they are 10 and 5 years old and they looked so much like each other that I begin to have suspicions,” the woman wrote on the Reddit Relationship Advice subforum.

Keep ReadingShow less
@parental_with_me/TikTok

"It's awesome"

There comes a point in every person’s life when the toys, games, fantasy books, cartoons, all start to take up less space in our lives. Partially because of naturally changing interests, and also due to the responsibilities of adulthood setting in.

But then when we have kids, suddenly we are transported back to this magical time when play ruled our lives.

For a dad named Andrew, this is one of the biggest “unsung benefits” of parenthood, and he is ready to sing its praises.
Keep ReadingShow less
All-Pro Reels from District of Columbia/ Wikipedia

That was not alright, alright , alright

People are applauding the way Matthew McConaughey refused to be reduced down to the partisan label of “anti-gun” during a recent guest appearance on “The View.”

McConaughey had initially been brought on the show to discuss his new children’s book, “Just Because,” but host Sunny Hostin later praised the actor for being “so outspoken against violence, and gun violence in particular,” referencing his previous impassioned speech in the aftermath of the Robb Elementary School shooting.

Hostin then asked McConaughey if he had given any more thought to holding a political office. Previously in 2021 the actor publicly announced considering running for governor of the state of Texas, but then decided to focus on his family.
Keep ReadingShow less