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Parenting

Mom gets savvy and tells her daughter to defrost dinner via Roblox

21st century problems call for 21st century solutions.

parenting; motherhood; Roblox; Facebook; video games

Mom gets savvy and tells her daughter to defrost dinner via Roblox.

Parents have been contending with kids and video games since the first arcade game was introduced. Kids get immersed in the fictional world and forget—or sometimes downright ignore—that there are responsibilities to take care of outside of the game. A mom from Chicago, ChaCha Watson, used the Roblox video game to get her daughter's full attention.

Watson repeatedly called her 11-year-old daughter, Miracle, to tell her to take dinner out of the freezer to defrost but Miracle didn't answer. Instead of jumping to the worst-case scenario, Watson knew exactly what her daughter was up to and how to get her attention.

Miracle was immersed in the video game Roblox instead of answering her mom's phone calls, so Watson decided to join. Yep, the savvy mom hopped into the Roblox game from her location and jumped into the car with her daughter's avatar to tell her to take the lasagna out of the freezer. She shared the screenshots of the exchange on Facebook where it went viral.


Watson told Today, “She just so happens to be in the beginning stage when you first pop up on the game. So when I popped up, she just so happened to pull up. And I said, ‘You see me calling you!’ and then she was like, ‘I'm sorry mom.’" Roblox has been around for a while now. It's an interactive game where kids can create avatars that look like them, build things and apparently, drive cars. Watson had been playing the game with her daughter as a way to bond with her, she told Today.

If you've ever been a "latchkey kid" or just the oldest child at home while your parents step out, then you know the cardinal sin is to forget to take the food out for dinner. There's really no way to fake your way out of unthawed food because the rock solid item will tell on you every time. Before video games, parents didn't have the luxury of popping into one of their kids' video games to remind them to unthaw dinner.

Parents across social media are loving this mother's ingenuity of getting her daughter's attention. One parent tagged a friend and said, "We gotta figure out how to do this."

Another person replied, "Screaming! It was the 2nd pic 'It’s your mom, I know you saw me calling you,'" with multiple rolling on the floor laughing emojis.

It seems that most parents commenting on the post are planning to download Roblox and Minecraft to drop in on their kids when they're being ignored. But Watson advised that parents actually try playing the game with their kids and not just download it to tell them what to do, according to Today.

Watson told Today, "Being a single parent, you just want to make sure that you're spending time with your kids. That's really important to me — to make sure I'm spending quality time with her. So I downloaded Roblox and … that was just one of the best things ever."

Identity

Celebrate International Women's Day with these stunning photos of female leaders changing the world

The portraits, taken by acclaimed photographer Nigel Barker, are part of CARE's "She Leads the World" campaign.

Images provided by CARE

Kadiatu (left), Zainab (right)

True

Women are breaking down barriers every day. They are transforming the world into a more equitable place with every scientific discovery, athletic feat, social justice reform, artistic endeavor, leadership role, and community outreach project.

And while these breakthroughs are happening all the time, International Women’s Day (Mar 8) is when we can all take time to acknowledge the collective progress, and celebrate how “She Leads the World.

This year, CARE, a leading global humanitarian organization dedicated to empowering women and girls, is celebrating International Women’s Day through the power of portraiture. CARE partnered with high-profile photographer Nigel Barker, best known for his work on “America’s Next Top Model,” to capture breathtaking images of seven remarkable women who have prevailed over countless obstacles to become leaders within their communities.

“Mabinty, Isatu, Adama, and Kadiatu represent so many women around the world overcoming incredible obstacles to lead their communities,” said Michelle Nunn, President and CEO of CARE USA.

Barker’s bold portraits, as part of CARE’s “She Leads The World” campaign, not only elevate each woman’s story, but also shine a spotlight on how CARE programs helped them get to where they are today.

About the women:

Mabinty

international womens day, care.org

Mabinty is a businesswoman and a member of a CARE savings circle along with a group of other women. She buys and sells groundnuts, rice, and fuel. She and her husband have created such a successful enterprise that Mabinty volunteers her time as a teacher in the local school. She was the first woman to teach there, prompting a second woman to do so. Her fellow teachers and students look up to Mabinty as the leader and educator she is.

Kadiatu

international womens day, care.org

Kadiatu supports herself through a small business selling food. She also volunteers at a health clinic in the neighboring village where she is a nursing student. She tests for malaria, works with infants, and joins her fellow staff in dancing and singing with the women who visit the clinic. She aspires to become a full-time nurse so she can treat and cure people. Today, she leads by example and with ambition.

Isatu

international womens day, care.org

When Isatu was three months pregnant, her husband left her, seeking his fortune in the gold mines. Now Isatu makes her own way, buying and selling food to support her four children. It is a struggle, but Isatu is determined to be a part of her community and a provider for her kids. A single mother of four is nothing if not a leader.

Zainab

international womens day, care.org

Zainab is the Nurse in Charge at the Maternal Child Health Outpost in her community. She is the only nurse in the surrounding area, and so she is responsible for the pre-natal health of the community’s mothers-to-be and for the safe delivery of their babies. In a country with one of the world’s worst maternal death rates, Zainab has not lost a single mother. The community rallies around Zainab and the work she does. She describes the women who visit the clinic as sisters. That feeling is clearly mutual.

Adama

international womens day, care.org

Adama is something few women are - a kehkeh driver. A kehkeh is a three-wheeled motorcycle taxi, known elsewhere as a tuktuk. Working in the Kissy neighborhood of Freetown, Adama is the primary breadwinner for her family, including her son. She keeps her riders safe in other ways, too, by selling condoms. With HIV threatening to increase its spread, this is a vital service to the community.

Ya Yaebo

international womens day, care.org

“Ya” is a term of respect for older, accomplished women. Ya Yaebo has earned that title as head of her local farmers group. But there is much more than that. She started as a Village Savings and Loan Association member and began putting money into her business. There is the groundnut farm, her team buys and sells rice, and own their own oil processing machine. They even supply seeds to the Ministry of Agriculture. She has used her success to the benefit of people in need in her community and is a vocal advocate for educating girls, not having gone beyond grade seven herself.

On Monday, March 4, CARE will host an exhibition of photography in New York City featuring these portraits, kicking off the multi-day “She Leads the World Campaign.

Learn more, view the portraits, and join CARE’s International Women's Day "She Leads the World" celebration at CARE.org/sheleads.


Health

Over or under? Surprisingly, there actually is a 'correct' way to hang a toilet paper roll.

Let's settle this silly-but-surprisingly-heated debate once and for all.

Elya/Wikimedia Commons

Should you hang the toilet paper roll over or under?



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The "over or under" question has plagued marriages and casual acquaintances alike for over 100 years, with both sides convinced they have the soundest reasoning for putting their toilet paper loose end out or loose end under. Some people feel so strongly about right vs. wrong TP hanging that they will even flip the roll over when they go to the bathroom in the homes of strangers.

Contrary to popular belief, it's not merely an inconsequential preference. There is actually a "correct" way to hang toilet paper, according to health experts as well as the man who invented the toilet paper roll in the first place.

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Photo via iStock.

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Photo via iStock.

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