Tiny human to the rescue.
Toddler helps mom when she's locked out of the house.
Would you be considered human if you haven't locked yourself out of your house at least once? One mom on TikTok found herself in quite the predicament with only her toddler to "mission impossible" his way to unlocking the house door to let his mom, @gesikaaaaaa, inside. The video starts with the camera pointed at a rosy-cheeked toddler on a snow-covered porch.
The boy looks to be no older than 2 or 3 but he's an expert at following directions … sort of. It's all still pretty new to him and, as anyone who's ever interacted with a toddler knows, multistep directions are not the way to go. They tend to hear one thing only and even then are apt to be distracted by a stray piece of lint and not be able to finish the task.
Everything is new to a toddler and it doesn't take much to distract them. And just about anything can be a toy. So when this mom helped her son through an open window in an effort to guide him through the process of unlocking the door, classic toddler cuteness ensued.
The desperate mom explains in the video that she left one window unlocked and you can see immediately that there's no way an adult could fit through the small space without injury. So instead she uses her toddler to do it and once he's inside the house his instructions are to get a chair … he finds a bowl. His mom tells him, "Focus. Focus. Grab the chair and take it to the door."
What do you know? That sweet boy did just as he was told. Until he found a rock. Mom quickly refocuses the boy and the chair is back on the move, then he finds the fireplace tongs and takes a break to play with the fireside tools stand. Eventually the little guy succeeds in his mission but the journey there was the cutest maze of side quests you'll ever see.
Watch him rescue his mom below:
@gesikaaaaaa Thank god for tiny humans #bne #lockedout #tinyhuman #mamashelper #breakingin #DoTheSmartThings #toddlercomedy #kidtok
Best. Night. Ever.
She chose "spa night."
Have you seen those “pick a card date nights” floating around on TikTok?
It’s usually reserved for romantic couples, and shows one partner picking from two pieces of paper labeled with different activities like “picnic in the park” or “dinner and a movie.” They won’t be able to see what’s on the card until they choose, and it’s always fun to see their reaction after the fact … especially when they accidentally pick a chore. Yeah, some partners go there.
One dad decided to take the idea and add his own twist—taking his young daughter out on their own "pick a card" adventure. Absolute cuteness ensued.
Joshua Chavez first presented his daughter, Indie, cards, which read “shopping spree at Target,” and “trip to Disney World.” Indie chose the former.
In case you were thinking, ah man, poor thing missed out on Disney, Indie is seen jumping up and down with excitement after realizing new toys are in store. So I think she’s fine.
Next thing we know, the pair are seen cruising through the toy aisle, Indie’s kiddie-sized shopping cart already filled to the brim.
Next, it was between sushi or Starbucks. Sushi won. Indie gasps, elated, and then we see the pair noshing happily.
Finally it’s between a tea party or a spa night. Indie chose a spa night—complete with foot rubs, cucumbers on the eyes … the whole shebang. Dad joined in too. Too stinkin’ cute.
@thechavezfamilyy The best date of my life 🤎 #dadsoftiktok#momsoftiktok♬ Half the Man - Jennifer Smestad
“The best date of my life,” the father wrote in his caption.
The video, posted by Madison Chavez, mama of the family, quickly rose to 4.3 million views on TikTok. People not only loved the pure sweetness of it all, but also how this dad was stepping up in a big way for his little girl.
Here are just a few things people are saying:
“Brought a tear to my eye thinking about my daughter. Good to see positive fatherhood.”
“She will remember this for the rest of her life.”
“From the girls who never got this, thank you sir. That’s one lucky baby!”
“Bro, you are the epitome of what a man should be. That is so beautiful. I can truly see you love your daughter like Iove mine. Thank you for showing.”
“Cherish the moment, they grow up so fast.”
It’s no secret that the relationship we share with our parents during early childhood can have a profound and lasting effect on our adult lives. This dad understands that the bond between a father and his daughter is an important one to foster. And, as he has demonstrated, even the simplest activities can create positive core memories. No dad is perfect, but putting in real effort can make a world of difference in a child’s life.
Here's to more daddy-daughter "pick a card" adventures!
“Oh, wow. You did a good job!”
Mom's reaction to toddler's self haircut
An unsupervised toddler with a pair of scissors is nightmare fuel for parents.
Will you find shredded books, a hole in your new couch, or a pile of lopped off hair when you emerge from your quick trip to the potty?
Toddlers may still be very young, but they are fast and have a knack for getting ahold of unapproved things quickly, inflicting maximum destruction. TikTok user, @designerluxury4you, shared a video of their toddler proudly showing off the haircut she had given herself.
Experiencing your child giving themselves or their siblings a haircut seems to be a rite of passage for parents.
But the way this mom handled the discovery is showing how gentle parenting is changing the game. It's pretty safe to say that most parents would react in a more expressive way and immediately remove the scissors from the child's hands. This mom responded in the kindest and most respectful way you can imagine and maybe the internet is a little better for having seen it.
When the mom walks in to see her daughter holding a pair of child's scissors, she calmly asks, "What'd you do?" to which the now mullet-sporting toddler explains her actions. The little girl, Max, says, "I cutted all of it off and I put it on here." While the toddler is finishing her story we get a quick glimpse of the pile of blonde hair sitting on the nightstand. This is the point that seems to divide the commenters because the reaction isn't anger or even a stern tone. Instead, this shocked mom says, "Oh, wow. You did a really good job, Max."
The mom asked if her daughter felt better since her hair was no longer in her face, to which Max answered, "Yep." Max was given several options, including going to the hairdresser to fix it. The video cuts off before we find out the toddler's choice, but the mom's reaction was the topic of discussion in the comments.
One person wrote, "Seriously, this is impressive parenting. What a gift you are to her."
Another said, "Wow, you handled that so well lol she's so adorable."
Others were confused and more critical of the mom's calm reaction and lack of consequences. Someone wrote, "I just can't with gentle parenting. She lost me when she said no but allowed it anyway."
A different user expressed confusion, writing, "Not knocking gentle parenting but at the end of the day how does she learn this was wrong and not to do it again?"
There were multiple comments reminding people that even though the girl is a toddler, it's still her hair and she should get to decide what to do with it.
Watch the video below. Do you think this mom handled this situation well?
@designerluxury4u Talent #gamimy #kidsoftiktok #girlpower #beautician ##parentsoftiktok
Have you ever loved something like she loves pickles?
They're SOUR!
In 2022, kiddo interview series Recess Therapy introduced us to Corn Kid, whose wholesome love of his favorite vegetable took the world by storm. His internet fame led to a viral song on TikTok and even a brand sponsorship for crying out loud.
But it’s 2023 now, and there’s a new veggie kid in town. And her name is Pickle Girl.
From her ecstatic squeals to adorable crunching sounds, Pickle Girl's interview with host Julian Shapiro-Barnum is just too freakin’ cute. But really, it’s her unbridled zest for life itself that will make you wanna watch the video over and over again. Nothing sour about this child, no matter how many pickles she’s allegedly eaten.Though many were noticing the similarities between Corn Kid and Pickle Girl (and obviously asking for a future collaboration between the two), there’s one thing that makes her personality stand alone. For you see, even though Pickle Girl “LOVES PICKLES,” she eats everything, from broccoli to corn to squash. No bugs though. Nice try, Julian.
And in case you were wondering, when Pickle Girl eats a pickle, she thinks about when she was a wittle baby—yes, wittle—and how she would cry and cry and cry. If only her parents had known her tears could have been easily avoided with her favorite snack.
Trust me, words aren’t going to do it justice. Watch below:
It’s giving the half-eaten pickle to dad then immediately calling for donut that really does it for me.
Kids can become so passionate over the simplest of things. It’s a skill that we grumpy adults really have to coax out and work to maintain. However, watching how the pros do it is a great way to start, because that joy is truly contagious. Thank you, Pickle Girl for taking something so salty and somehow making it the sweetest thing ever. Bless you.
Do these sounds soothe or annoy you?
ASMR videos have millions of views on YouTube.
I'd never heard of ASMR when my kids started talking about how "satisfying" ASMR videos were. They had shared other "satisfying" videos with me, such as machinery making precise movements, Play-Doh being squished through holes, and more. I understood what they found appealing about them and I figured ASMR videos would be similar.
They weren't.
For those who are unfamiliar with it, ASMR stands for autonomous sensory meridian response, which refers to the deep relaxation and tingling sensation some people experience from certain triggers, such as sounds. The sounds we're talking about, however, are not the soothing music or birds chirping or ocean waves one might normally associate with relaxation. They're things like hair brushing, scraping fingernails on a plastic water bottle and mouth crackles, all amplified with a powerful microphone.
Yes, mouth crackles. As in the popping sound people's saliva makes in the corners of their mouths when they talk. (The mouth sounds usually accompany someone whispering—another ASMR favorite.)
Intentional ASMR videos highlight these sounds and people either love it (because it gives them the tingles) or they don't (because it's annoying).
This whispering ASMR video has 24 million views and offers a glimpse of what I'm talking about:
The past decade has seen ASMR videos grow in popularity to the point where Reese's made an hour-long film featuring five ASMR stars who whisper into microphones while unwrapping Reese's candy wrappers.
This YouTube video is three hours straight of nonvocal ASMR sounds made primarily with a woman's fingernails gently scraping across various different textured surfaces, and it has 37 million views:
People who experience ASMR prefer different triggers, and it might take some experimenting to see what works—if it does at all. It seems that people either get ASMR or they don't. My children do, but I don't. I actually find these videos vaguely irritating.
Why is that? What makes some people have a positive, soothing reaction to ASMR videos while others get annoyed by them?
One answer may lie in our baseline mental states. A study from 2022 suggests that people who experience ASMR tingles tend to be higher in neuroticism, which means being more likely to experience negative emotional states such as anxiety. Notably, ASMR appeared to reduce anxiety in those people, whereas the people who didn't get the tingles showed no difference in their anxiety before and after watching the videos.
Joanna Greer, Ph.D., a senior lecturer of psychology at Northumbria University who co-authored the study, told Verywell Health that the study's findings can encourage further research into how ASMR can help reduce anxiety.
And anecdotally, the people-more-prone-to-anxiety-tend-to-get-ASMR idea is reflected accurately in my and my kids' case, as my kids are much more anxiety-prone than I am.
Neuroticism isn't the only personality trait associated with experiencing ASMR. University of Winnipeg professor of psychology Stephen Smith has studied ASMR and personalities. He told CNN that people who get the tingly response tend to score high in the "openness to experience" trait as well as neuroticism, while scoring lower in conscientiousness, extraversion and agreeableness.
"I think they’re more receptive to specific types of physical, auditory and visual experiences than the rest of us," Smith said.
ASMR isn't purely triggered by the videos shown and described here, either. The response is something most of us have experienced at one point or another, whether it's from someone brushing our hair or making slow movements or simply giving us personal attention. But the videos that have taken over YouTube are designed to tap straight into the phenomenon with specific sounds.
Whether it actually works is an individual question. In people I've casually polled, responses to ASMR videos seem to be fairly split—some find them "satisfying," some find them annoying. But the people who respond to ASMR sounds share that they reduce their anxiety and create a sense of calm in them. In an increasingly anxious world, the more ways we can find to soothe people's minds, the better. Whatever floats your boat.
Even if it does involve loudly breaking saliva bubbles.
Our first roundup of 2023 includes awesome old folks, toddlers, dancers, marine mammals and more.
Upworthy's weekly roundup of joy.
Happy 2023, everyone!
We're almost a week in. How are we doing so far? Whether you're crushing your New Year's resolutions, struggling to make new habits stick or are ditching the goal-setting altogether, we hope you're making the most of the fresh energy the new year brings.
If adding more joy to your life is on the docket for 2023, you've come to the right place. We are experts in uplifting and specialize in smiles, and we love to share the best of humanity with you all.
One of the best parts of pulling together these weekly roundups of joy is seeing the wide range of things that make us smile. We've got old folks and wee ones, dancers and doggos, teachers connecting with students and a whole town changing its plans to protect a wandering walrus. Each thing is delightful in its own way, and there's a little something here for everyone.
So kick back, relax and enjoy these serotonin-boosting finds:
The tail wagging and the eyebrow raising say it all. So dang cute.
@pettitgrace This is my new favorite video ever.
We love this Grandpa. What a joy. Read the full story here.
@ayeejayy42 Age is just a number… #happynewyear #countdownnye2023 #insomniacevents
Good for him for not letting the number of candles on his birthday cake hold him back. Looks like he had the time of his life.
Teachers are real-life heroes every day, and Ms. Turner heroically brought it in this dance battle. Love seeing this kind of connection with students. Read the full story here.
Thor showed up on a boat ramp in the U.K. town of Scarborough and appeared to need some rest. Residents rallied to protect him until he moved on, including canceling their traditional fireworks display. Read the full story of Thor's visit to Scarborough here.
@gesikaaaaaa Thank god for tiny humans #bne #lockedout #tinyhuman #mamashelper #breakingin #DoTheSmartThings #toddlercomedy #kidtok
Tiny humans are predictably unpredictable and always good for some entertainment. Read the full story here.
Whale-watching passengers and crew off the coast of Dana Point, California, spotted blood in the water around a gray whale and thought they were witnessing a tragedy. As it turned out, she was birthing a calf, which she then proceeded to show off. Amazing.
Their story is moving and their moves are impressive. How on Earth did they create those effects? Read the full story here.
\u201cLeave me alone.. \ud83d\ude02\u201d— Buitengebieden (@Buitengebieden) 1672780305
The struggle is real … and adorably hilarious.
It's the simple things that bring the most genuine joy, every time.
Hope that brought a smile or 10 to your face! Join us every Friday for these smile-worthy roundups, and if you'd like them delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our free newsletter, The Upworthiest, here.
