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Texas UPS driver proudly explains why he never helps his wife do any chores

“I don’t help her clean, do laundry, take care of the kids — none of that.”

via minton__jr/TikTok and Alex Green/Pexels

J.R. Minton's video has over 6 million views.

Even though America has come a long way in gender relations over the past few decades men are still far behind women when accepting domestic responsibilities.

A recent study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' American Time Use Survey found that women aged 15 and over spend 5.7 hours daily on domestic tasks, whereas men spend 3.6 hours, a 37 percent difference. Women with a 35-hour week devote 4.9 hours daily to home chores and child care, compared to men's 3.8 hours.

In a world where men still trail behind women when it comes to work on the homefront, a Texas UPS driver is going viral for a TikTok video where he urges men to reconsider how they think about domestic responsibilities.

In a video with over 6 million views, J.R. Minton proudly says he doesn’t “help” his wife with jobs around the house. “I don’t help my wife cook. I don’t help her clean, do laundry, take care of the kids — none of that,” Minton, 32, began his clip.

Warning: Strong language.

So, why does Minton refuse to help his wife?

"Because I do what I am supposed to do as a father and a husband. I cook. I clean. I do the laundry. I take care of the kids. I can't help my wife do those things because they are my job, too,” he reveals.

He then urged men to change their perspectives on how they view their relationship to domestic responsibilities and their wives. “Change the way you speak, change the way you think, and grow the f*** up and be a man," he added.

The video received raves from women in the comments. Sadly, many used the video to share that their husbands have fallen short of Minton’s level of understanding. "My husband sometimes doesn’t even flush the toilet," Human Robot wrote. "I am sending this straight to my man he needs to see this," JJsMom added.

"Yep! My husband and I recognize it’s BOTH our kids and BOTH our house, therefore BOTH our responsibility," Sweetheart wrote.

Minton is an equal partner to his wife because he was raised much differently and wants to right the wrongs of his past. “Pretty much everything about my parenting style is in spite of what I saw when I was growing up,” he told Today.com

Minton knew that his philosophy on marriage was necessary when a woman at Target praised him for doing the “bare minimum." “I was wearing the baby, and I had two kids in the cart, and this lady comes up to Brittany, and she’s like, ‘Oh my God. Is this your husband!? Look at him. You should take a picture of him,’” Minton said. “I get so much credit for doing nothing. How low is the bar?"

Minton responded to his viral video with a heartfelt follow-up to everyone who loved how he cared for his wife and family. “I’m truly humbled at how far my message has gone,” he said. “However, I’d like to take a second to say: I am not special. I am no ‘unicorn.’ I am normal.”

“Nothing about my parenting style or my commitment to my wife is unique. Although it may seem out of the ordinary, it is far from extraordinary,” he continued. “Every father and husband we know (that seems to come up short) is fully-capable — yet unwilling.” He added that there was one thing that separates dads who do their part and dads who don’t: “Effort.”


This article originally appeared on 10.16.23

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A divorced mom cleverly asked daycare workers to hook her up with a 'cute' dad. It worked.

She “manifested” her man.

via Dorilee and Sean Lavin (used with permission)

Sean and Dorilee Lavin feel complete.

Dorilee Lavin, 39, was a divorced mother of 3 living in Vermont. When she was ready to find her next relationship, she made a list of characteristics she wanted in her next husband. “I manifested him hard,” Dorilee, 39, told Today.com.

Three days later, she saw a tall, dark-haired man named Sean walking his 2 daughters to school and hoped he was single. “It was the sweetest thing ever, like an image you’d see in a magazine,” she recalled. "They had such a happy energy."

After some research, she discovered that he was single, too. Unfortunately, their paths didn’t cross and the school year was nearing its end. "I never got the chance to connect with him, but the [after-school care] was tired of hearing me talk about him to them," she confessed in a TikTok video with over 1.7 million views.

“'OK, Dorilee, we can't have you be bummin' all summer, so we're gonna give him your phone number,” she recalled them saying.

#stitch with @Jackie Gansky 

@dailydoseofdorilee

#stitch with @Jackie Gansky #strategic #interested #perfectman #husbandmaterial #howwemet #waitforthegreats

So, on the last day of summer break, the employees at the after-school care program agreed to give him her phone number. Before he got the digits, she ran into him while she was leaving the center and didn’t think she made a great first impression.

“It was total verbal diarrhea. Like no pickup lines, no nothing here. I actually thought I scared him,” Dorilee shared in the video. Luckily for Dorilee, she didn’t. About an hour later, he texted her and they agreed to go on a date that Saturday night.

They eloped in the woods 111 days after their first date. Dorilee believes she “manifested” Sean, he thinks he may have done the same for her.

“I later learned he had a dream of a woman with long dark curly hair and a captivating energy,” she told Today.com. “Then, when he saw me, he was blown away because I was the woman from his dream. I didn’t believe him when he first told me the story, then he showed me the texts. He had messaged his friends about the dream.”

Dorilee still can’t believe that her metaphysical request was honored. "It hit me hard about two months ago that I'm literally living the life with a partner I called in from the universe years ago and I balled like a baby,” she wrote in the comments.

Their kids get along very well and they’ve worked hard to create positive and peaceful relationships with their exes.

blended families, dorilee sean lavin, happy famileies

The Lavin clan with Sean's mom, Tracy Gandin.

via Dorilee and Sean Lavin (used with permission)

Dorilee and Sean told Upworthy that there are 3 “vital” elements to creating a successful co-parenting relationship: clear communication, open dialogue and always acting in the best interest of the kids.

It’s also essential to leave the past in the past.

“Letting go of any premarital resentment and leaving that in the chapter of your marriage is what helped us move forward with positive co-parenting,” Dorilee told Upworthy. “Raising kids isn't all cupcakes—it can be difficult when married, but there's a whole different aspect after divorce. None of the members of our parental party talk poorly of the others. We don't want to in any capacity have a child think there's any part of them we wouldn't love because they are partly made of the parent we divorced.”

It’s also worth noting that Dorilee has a rather charming name for her ex-husband, with whom she shares co-parenting responsibilities. She calls him her “wusband” (he was my husband).

Even though Dorilee and their family have created a happy and emotionally healthy second chapter in life, there are some who still think she had to employ stalker-style tactics to get her man, an accusation she denies...sort of. “Is it really stalking if I didn't follow him and just made myself available to bump into him at pickup, though?” she wrote in the comments.

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Teacher asks teen daughter to mend a student's coat and gets it back with a funny surprise

“My student was grinning when he showed me the note. He kept looking at it in class and smiling..."

Canva

Sweetness stitched into every bit of this story.

Some stories are wholesome. Others are hilarious. Others still restore some faith in humanity. This one is a combination of all three.

A teacher shared on Reddit how he took his student’s torn coat home so that his crafty daughter could mend the pocket. As he explained in his post, the student didn't seem to have the funds to fix it on his own or replace the jacket.

His daughter didn’t only sew up the jacket, but left her own cheeky bit of “11th grade advice” in note hidden in the coat’s pocket.

“Hey child, it is me, the magical coat fixer. Hope it holds up and please send it back if it doesn’t. Sorry I couldn’t make it as invisible as I hoped, but I did my best,” the note read. “Also since you’re in 8th grade (I think — I’m not 100% sure what grade my dad teaches) I thought you could use some 11th grade advice.

The note then concluded with “MIDDLE SCHOOL SUCKS. YOU’RE ALMOST FREE. YOU CAN MAKE IT. GOOD LUCK," written in all caps.

I asked one of my students who is very poor to give me his torn coat so I could bring it home for my daughter to sew. He came to class and showed me that he found this in the pocket.
byu/thedeadwillwalk inMadeMeSmile

The teacher shared in the comments that even though his student was “embarrassed at first,” he kept pulling out the note and smiling through class.

The teacher shared in the comments that even though his student was “embarrassed at first,” he kept pulling out the note and smiling through class.

Folks who read the story commended the daughter for not only helping the younger student through an act of service, but also with some encouraging words.

“Such a small act of kindness will probably be something this child carries with him for the rest of his life,” one person wrote.

“Your daughter has a HUGE heart. What a gift. ❤️” added another.

Another noted how this story hits on multiple emotional levels, writing:

“There are so many wonderful things about this. You thought to help out a kid in your class who didn't have the resources to help themselves/They weren't afraid of too proud to accept help when they need it/You know your child's skills well enough to know they could help/Not only did your kid go out of their way to help, they thought it might be nice to include a note, a word of wisdom, and a promise to keep helping in the future if needed/The kiddo who needed help recognized how special this note was and thought to share it with you/And now you share it with your internet friends!”

In an interview with TODAY.com, the teacher (who remained anonymous) shared that this kind of behavior was typical of Brianna—his daughter. And apparently, her creativity was contagious, as the little boy gave her his own handmade thank-you card.

Yep, something the biggest acts of generosity are small enough to find in a coat pocket.

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Parents start huge viral debate after sharing their 'Switch Witch' Halloween candy tradition

That's a different way of doing Halloween.

via Jill Wellington/Pexels

A young girl goes trick-or-treating on Halloween.

A family from Utah has ruffled a lot of feathers on Instagram after sharing the Halloween tradition they celebrate with their 2-year-old daughter, Aria. Instead of allowing her to eat all the candy she gets while trick-or-treating, they let her select 5 pieces.

That's right. Just 5 pieces. But there's a catch!

The parents put the remainder of the candy on the porch for the night for the “Switch Witch,” who exchanges the sugary foods for a toy. In this case, Aria received a “Frozen” doll from the witch.

The parents who came up with this idea are Emily and Erik Jensen, fitness trainers and life coaches known for sharing family health and wellness tips on social media. "You can get fun with it and give your witch a name," Levi captioned his post, in part. "The witch who stops by our house is Wilda."

After posting the video with over 10 million views, the couple was deluged by an incredible amount of angry feedback for their new Halloween tradition.

Here’s what everyone is up in arms about.

The video hit right in the heart about issues people are passionate about, Halloween, diet culture, materialism, candy and preserving the magic of childhood.

"What happened to parents just letting kids be kids and enjoy Halloween?" EmilyKohara21 asked. "Dude, it's once a year...." CGroves_08 wrote.

"It’s one day of the year. Give it a rest. You think it’s better to buy your kid toys than to let them have the bite-sized candy?" Beezus04 added.

Many parents thought making a big deal about the candy was a recipe for instilling negative body issues with their daughter. "Or just let your kid enjoy a f***ing treat instead of instilling body hatred and diet culture at FIVE YEARS OLD." TolkienQueerFriend wrote.

In the comments, the people who supported the family noted that a 2-year-old probably shouldn’t be eating all that candy in the first place. “I love this idea! I have a toddler and he doesn’t need candy, but I want him to experience going out and Trick or Treating. I don’t eat candy and he doesn’t need more than 5 pieces at TWO years old!” JACQ2400 wrote.

“When we posted the video, we had no idea the comments would be so heated,” Emily told TODAY.com.

The crux of the issue was a child’s relationship with sugar, and, according to medical professionals, too much sugar in childhood can lead to big problems in adulthood.

“As with anything, too much sugar during childhood may lead to unhealthy cravings as kids grow older,” Dr. Stacy Leatherwood Cannon wrote for Henry Ford Health. “In excess, sugar can lead to obesity, which puts a child at risk for developing high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels and type 2 diabetes (where the body’s response to insulin is not regulated).”

But in the end, families have the right to make their own decisions about what’s appropriate for their children, and for the Jensens, they will stick with limiting the amount of sugar their daughter eats on Halloween. "The 'Switch Witch' isn't for everyone, but it works for us,” Emily told Today.com.



After posting the video with over 10 million views, the couple was deluged by an incredible amount of angry feedback for their new Halloween tradition.

Here’s what everyone is up in arms about.

[Video]

The video hit right in the heart about issues people are passionate about, Halloween, diet culture, materialism, candy and the magic of childhood.

"What happened to parents just letting kids be kids and enjoy Halloween?" EmilyKohara21 asked. "Dude, it's once a year...." CGroves_08 wrote.

"It’s one day of the year. Give it a rest. You think it’s better to buy your kid toys than to let them have the bite-sized candy," Beezus04 added.

Many parents thought making a big deal about the candy was a recipe for instilling negative body issues with their daughter. "Or just let your kid enjoy a f***ing treat instead of instilling body hatred and diet culture at FIVE YEARS OLD." TolkienQueerFriend wrote.

In the comments, the people who supported the family noted that a 2-year-old probably shouldn’t be eating all that candy in the first place. “I love this idea! I have a toddler and he doesn’t need candy, but I want him to experience going out and Trick or Treating. I don’t eat candy and he doesn’t need more than 5 pieces at TWO years old!” JACQ2400.

“When we posted the video, we had no idea the comments would be so heated,” Emily told TODAY.com.

The crux of the issue was a child’s relationship with sugar, and, according to medical professionals, too much sugar in childhood can lead to big problems in adulthood.

“As with anything, too much sugar during childhood may lead to unhealthy cravings as kids grow older,” Dr. Stacy Leatherwood Cannon wrote for Henry Ford Health. “In excess, sugar can lead to obesity, which puts a child at risk for developing high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels and type 2 diabetes (where the body’s response to insulin is not regulated).”

But in the end, families have the right to make their own decisions about what’s appropriate for their children, and for the Jensens, they will stick with limiting the amount of sugar their daughter eats on Halloween. "The 'Switch Witch' isn't for everyone, but it works for us,” Emily told Today.com.

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