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New mom Serena Williams shares gratitude for her own mother in a heartfelt letter.

Tennis legend Serena Williams welcomed her first child, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. on Sept. 1. And no surprise, she is one sweet baby.

I mean, seriously? Too cute.

Biceps 💪🏾

A post shared by Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr. (@olympiaohanian) on

While Williams has been adjusting to her new role, she took a moment to write a letter to her own mother expressing her gratitude and admiration.

Originally posted to Reddit, Serena's letter kicks off with amazement at how her mom managed to keep such a cool head when she saw her daughters criticized and judged harshly in the media for their strong, capable, powerful bodies and commanding performances on the court. Over the years, some have even suggested Williams play with men and accused her of using performance-enhancing drugs.

Photo by William West/AFP/Getty Images.

Such jealousy, misogyny, and thinly veiled racism in response to a job well done would be enough to break anyone's spirit — but imagine if it happened to you. Or worse, your child.

"I don't know how I would react if [Alexis] has to go through what I've gone through since I was a 15 year old and even to this day," Williams wrote. "But mom, I'm not sure how you did not go off on every single reporter, person, announcer and quite frankly, hater, who was too ignorant to understand the power of a black woman."

Wiliams' mother, Oracene Price, watches as Williams plays Wimbledon in 2016. Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images.

Because women, (athletes or otherwise) should never be limited or defined by narrow standards of beauty.

Six-pack or soft rolls, fat or slim, with or without physical limitations, there is no "wrong way" for women, black women in particular, to look or feel strong. We are strong simply by virtue of existing in a world that would rather we not.

"I am proud we were able to show them what some women look like," Williams wrote. "We don't all look the same. We are curvy, strong, muscular, tall, small, just to name a few, and all the same: we are women and proud!"

Photo by Paul Crock/AFP/Getty Images.

But as confident and capable as Williams is, she's not too strong to ask for help.

Motherhood is already a tough job, and raising a child in the public eye won't make it any easier. She may be a superhero on the court, but even the strongest among us know it's OK to get support from the people we love.

"Promise me, Mom, that you will continue to help. I'm not sure if I am as meek and strong as you are yet. I hope to get there one day," she wrote.

Whoever you lean on, whoever you trust and value — it's never a bad time to let them know and say thanks.

My Mom

A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on

Education

Teacher brilliantly turns getting her period in front of her class into a teaching moment

"That boy who emailed...his parents must be incredible."

Emily Elizabeth|TikTok and Cliff Booth|Canva

Teacher starts period in front of class, turns into a lesson

Teachers are almost always teaching even when it's not in their lesson plan.

Those that were born to be teachers find teachable moments everywhere and one woman found herself in one of those moments. Though this one was likely just a bit more personal than she probably would've liked.

Emily Elizabeth posted a TikTok video about how she found herself in a predicament in front of her classroom full of 10 and 11-year-old kids. The teacher explained that she was noticing a lot of commotion and whispering among the little girls in her class while she was wearing white pants. After reminding the girls to stay on task, the whispering continued, prompting Emily to be more direct.

That's when one of the girls asked to speak with her privately dropping the bomb that no one that gets periods wants to hear in public.

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Gen Z is 74% more likely than other generations to want to homeschool their kids

Theirs reasons for wanting to homeschool and how they think it should be done departs from previous generations as well.

Canva

Homeschooling numbers in the U.S. have more than quadrupled since 1999.

It used to be that if you said the word "homeschooler," people would conjure up images of a Bible-carrying homesteader whose parents kept them out of school so they wouldn't learn about "dangerous" ideas like carbon dating and evolution.

While those kinds of homeschoolers still exist, the homeschooling world has become much larger and more diverse in recent decades. In 1999, there were approximately 850,000 students homeschooled in the United States. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, that number had tripled to an estimated 2.5 million, and in the past year, it's grown by over a million more to 3.62 million. These days, you'll meet homeschool parents from all walks of life who have chosen to educate their own kids for all kinds of reasons, moving the "typical homeschooler" stereotype further and further from reality.

Now we have a new generation of Americans thinking about how they want their kids to be educated. Gen Z is now 12 to 26 years old, with the 20-somethings at a prime age for starting (or at least imagining) their future family lives. Interestingly enough, they are even more keen on homeschooling their kids than their parents or grandparents were.

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Woman who was pressured to quit her job to raise stepdaughter's baby makes a bold decision

This sparked an important conversation about family responsibility.

via Pixabay

A middle-aged woman holding a baby.

A story that recently went viral on Reddit’s AITA forum asks an important question: What is a parent’s role in taking care of their grandchildren? The story is even further complicated because the woman at the center of the controversy is a stepparent.

The woman, 38, met her husband Sam, 47, ten years ago, when his daughter, Leah, 25, was 15. Five years ago, the couple got married after Leah had moved out to go to college.

Leah’s mom passed away when she was 10.

Last year, Leah became pregnant, and she wanted to keep the baby, but her boyfriend didn’t. After the disagreement, the boyfriend broke up with her. This forced Leah to move back home because she couldn’t afford to be a single parent and live alone on a teacher’s salary.

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Construction worker put in his place by woman’s devastatingly witty response to catcall

"It's that simple."

via BerriDaph and Pixabay

Daphne Berry has the best comeback to a catcaller.

It’s 2023, and unfortunately, catcalling is still a problem.

While some may dismiss it as harmless flattery, it can be extremely frightening to be sexualized in public by a stranger. Further, the object of the harassment, unusually a woman, has no idea whether the catcaller's intentions are dangerous or if they’re just being rude.

Australian TikTok star Daphne Berry (@berridaph) has gone viral for her quick-witted reply to a catcaller that turned the tide and made him the subject of humiliation.

Over the course of just 5 days, the video has been seen over 4.1 million times.

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Mom creates 'invention box' that gives her kid hours of independent playtime

Parents are loving the idea.

@kelsewhatelse/TikTok

This is a playtime game changer

Independent playtime, as the name suggests, is an allotted period of time where kids are left alone to entertain themselves.

It’s not only a chance for parents to catch up on whatever emails, chores, rest, etc. that they might have fallen behind on, but an opportunity for kids to develop their imagination, problem-solving and self-reliance. And, you know, make friends with the voices inside their head.

But, as important as independent playtime is, it’s not always easy for parents to implement. Some kids have a hard time finding ways to entertain themselves without trying to involve mom or dad.

That’s where the ‘invention box’ comes in.

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Internet

Viewers watch in awe as the woman with world's longest fingernails finally gets them cut

It took more than 2 bottles of nail polish and 20 hours to paint her nails!

Guinness World Records|Facebook

Viewers can't stop watching as woman cuts two foot fingernails

There's something about seeing something out of the ordinary, be it a strange animal, an accident or even an argument between strangers. Humans are naturally curious beings and seeing a random argument between your neighbor and her teenage son will have some people outside taking their goldfish for a walk just to gawk.

So it's not surprising that thousands of viewers tuned in when Ayanna Williams, the Guinness World Record holder for the world's longest nails went to have them all cut off. Williams had her record breaking nails for 29 years but decided it was finally time to bid them adieu and the entire thing was filmed. It's a monumental moment for the record holder after having lived with the 24 foot nails for decades.

Most of us would simply need to grab a pair of fingernail clippers and get clipping, but for Williams the process was a bit more complicated.

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