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These incarcerated moms are making audiobooks so they can read to their children.

For a child with a parent behind bars, life can be isolating and stressful.

As many as 10 million children experience the pain of a parental incarceration at some point in their lives, missing out on the everyday activities so many take for granted. This particular separation can be as damaging as a death or divorce due to shame, stigma, and lack of understanding.

And staying connected with an incarcerated parent is not easy. Phone calls from prison are often cost prohibitive, and outgoing mail is frequently delayed. Given the location of state and federal prisons, many kids are unable to visit their parents behind bars.

In fact, 59% of parents in state facilities reported never having had a visit from their children.

For parents behind bars, visits like this one are a rarity. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

But volunteers with the Women's Storybook Project found a way for moms in prison to connect with their little ones.

Founded by Judith Dullnig in 2003, the Texas nonprofit allows incarcerated women to read books to their children.

All GIFs from Women's Storybook Project Texas.

With the help of one of the 150 volunteers, each mom selects a book and reads it aloud into a tape recorder.

The tapes and books are then mailed to their children, so the kids can hear their mother's voices and feel close to her during the challenging period of her incarceration.


An inmate's child reads his storybook with a relative.

Each month, the program mails approximately 350 new books and tapes to children.

The Women's Storybook Project is currently available in five of the eight women's prison facilities in Texas, with the goal of expanding to the entire network.

The Women's Storybook Project isn't just a win for the kids, it's a priceless opportunity for their moms.

Lauri Arrington, a former Storybook participant, recorded 14 books for her children while she was incarcerated. She was released two years ago and wrote about her experience with the program in The New York Times.

For Arrington and others, the program offered normalcy and dignity while living in a place often lacking both. She writes, "Many women told me that while reading to their children, they briefly felt normal. Helping them, I felt normal. Normal as in, someone who mattered again."

With the success of the Women's Storybook Project, similar programs are taking off across the country.

A corrections facility in New York launched its own Story Corner, and facilities in Iowa and Maryland offer Storybook projects for dads behind bars too.

As the American prison population continues to grow, programs like this become invaluable to maintaining strong family relationships, which can improve an inmate's success upon release.

See the power of the Storybook Project in this short video created by Women's Storybook Project Texas.

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How one woman is breaking barriers to amplify women's voices in peace building across Southern Africa

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Vimbai Kapurura is the Executive Director of Women Unlimited, a grassroots women’s rights organization working to promote the rights and leadership of women, girls, and marginalized groups in Eswatini and southern Africa. With support from the Rapid Response Window of the United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF), she’s advocating to have more female voices in national peace building spaces to ensure women’s rights and demands are included.

“Women are peacebuilders. We are peacemakers. We have a critical role to play in crisis situations and we are very much better placed to play a peacebuilding role in any country.”

In the face of the growing political turmoil in Eswatini, where calls for the establishment of a national dialogue remain seemingly unanswered, Vimbai and her organization are stepping up, raising their voice and bringing forward innovative solutions to promote peace and stability across the country. WPHF is supporting them to amplify women’s voices and mainstream gender perspectives into relevant decision-making mechanisms.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

“We are the cradle of life. We are changemakers, movers, shakers of any area of development. We want to be engaged and involved in any area of the value chain, the complete value chain. We want to be there.”

As part of its project with WPHF, Women Unlimited – with technical support from Cordaid, one of the INGO partners of the RRW – has trained several local women-led civil society organizations in conflict resolution, conflict prevention and mediation processes, as well as carried out educational and awareness raising campaigns on the value of women’s participation in peace processes, targeting both women and men across the country.

“WPHF has really helped us a lot. Not only has the funding allowed us to engage more women in peacebuilding processes, but it’s also supported us to underscore the need for female leadership in these spaces, where we’re often left aside.”

In Eswatini, where women and girls face deep-rooted patriarchy from a very young age, undermining their confidence, autonomy and leadership, Vimbai has become an outspoken advocate for women’s equal representation in decision-making roles at all levels, from community-level and regional committees to national and global peace building spaces.

“If you gather many women toward on common goal, you are guaranteed that that goal is going to be achieved. Let us come together and be the change we want to see. No one will do it for us. But together, we can.”

A tireless leader and activist who’s influenced the lives of many women and girls in Eswatini, Vimbai is a firm believer in women’s capacity, tenacity, and adaptability to lead and drive transformative change in their communities. When she thinks about peace, she dreams about women coming together, taking up space, and walking side by side for a more peaceful and gender-equal world in which harmful stereotypes and cultural practices are left behind.

Follow, engage, and amplify the work of Vimbai's organization!

Golden Years

7 'old people' sayings that are actually solid life advice at every age

"Make all your words sweet because tomorrow you may have to eat them."

Photo credit: Canva

Elder wisdom can come in handy.

With age comes wisdom, or at least we hope it does. As we get older, we collect life lessons that we can pass along to younger generations, sometimes with lengthy stories, sometimes with quippy sayings.

Adages like "A penny saved is a penny earned," or "Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise," have been part of our collective treasure chest of life advice for generations, but the aphorisms that spring from the experience of our loved ones and mentors are often the most meaningful.

Someone shared that they'd read and appreciated this old man's advice: “My grandpa once told me 'if you get on the wrong train, get off at the nearest station, the longer it takes you to get off, the more expensive the return trip will be.' He wasn’t talking about trains.” The person asked for more tidbits of wisdom from old folks and people started sharing sayings they heard from their elders growing up.

Here are some of the best "old man advice" sayings and how they can be applied in a person's life.

"You might miss what’s ahead of you if you keep concentrating on what’s in the rear view mirror."

Another commenter put it another way: "Don't look behind you, you aren't going that way." This adage is about not dwelling on the past. Many of us have a tendency to spend more time mentally in the past, rehashing old memories or being nostalgic for what once was, than we do in the present or looking forward to the future. There's nothing wrong with a little reflection, but if most of our focus is in the past, we miss out on the present. Rear view mirrors are for quick glances, not where our focus should be.

"Do the right thing, even if nobody is watching."

This saying is about good character and true integrity. If you notice someone drop a $20 bill and no one is around to see but you, do you give it back to them or do you pick it up and keep it? If you realize that a store didn't charge you for an item, do you point it out and make it right or do you allow the mistake to remain? There are opportunities each day for us to choose between right and wrong, and those choices really speak to who we are if they are made without anyone else knowing.

bart simpson episode 21 GIFGiphy


"Be nice to everybody you meet on the way up the ladder. You'll see the same faces on the way down "

Don't get cocky and don't burn bridges you think you won't need to return to. There's value in being kind for its own sake, but there's also the reality that being kind also makes people like you. When people like you, they're more likely to lend you a helping hand, and you never know when you're going to be in a position to need one. It's also a good reminder that you're not inherently better than anyone else just because of where you are in life. We're all constantly in flux, so it's important to stay humble and kind.

In other words, "Make all your words sweet because tomorrow you may have to eat them."

"One of the most powerful negotiating tools is silence."

The power of silence in general is often underrated, but it can be an especially useful tool in a negotiation. Some people are so uncomfortable with silence that they will make concessions simply to avoid it. And sometimes the best response to an unreasonable demand is to just say nothing and stare, letting the other party come to the realization themselves. It takes calm confidence to simply be quiet and let the silence fill the room, which can feel surprisingly intimidating.

Eddie Murphy Shut Up GIF by BounceGiphy

"Always listen to your gut, even if you can’t explain it."

Ah, the strange and mysterious sense of intuition that we can't really describe but know when we feel it. Whether it's getting a creepy vibe about a person or a little voice telling you to do or not do something, those "gut instincts" can serve us well. Of course, if we are prone to anxiety, our instincts can sometimes be confused with anxious thoughts, but "go with your gut" is solid advice anyway.

“It doesn’t matter what path you’re on if it’s the wrong mountain.”

Sometimes people trying to find their way end up hitting roadblock after roadblock, which may mean they just haven't found the right path yet or might mean they need an entire overhaul of their life. That might look like switching career paths entirely, rather than trying to find a job in your field that fits. It might mean changing majors in the middle of your studies when you find yourself not enjoying any of your classes. It might mean finding a new community or reevaluating your relationships.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get."

Several sayings line up with this one, like "Luck is the intersection of preparation and opportunity," and "Luck favors the prepared mind." There's a lot to be said for fortune and hard work going hand in hand. If we expect good things to just land in our lap, we will likely be disappointed, but if we move in the direction of things we want to happen and do the work of preparing for good things to come our way, "luck" frequently seems to follow.

Finding a saying that resonates can be really helpful when we're facing a specific challenge in life, especially when we commit it to memory and repeat it often.

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Dad's heartfelt lunch message shows how simple, everyday acts can change lives

You can make a huge difference by using O Organics.

via Meg Sullivan (used with permission) and Canva/Photos

A volunteer hands out food in a food bank and Meg Sullivan shares her dad's kind gesture.

When we consider people who have had a positive impact on the world, we often think of those who have made grand gestures to improve the lives of others, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Greta Thunberg, or Mahatma Gandhi. Unfortunately, that type of effort is out of reach for the average person.

However, O Organics would like to remind everyone that they can positively impact the world through small, consistent acts of kindness that add up over time. Much like how a small creek can create a valley over the years, we can change lives through small, consistent acts of kindness.

O Organics is dedicated to the well-being of all by nourishing people everywhere with delicious organic foods grown by producers who meet USDA-certified organic farming standards.

Upworthy's Instagram page recently posted a touching example of everyday kindness. Meg Sullivan shared how her father, Tom, peeled oranges for her lunch just about every day from kindergarten through high school. But on the final day of her senior year of high school, he sent his 17-year-old daughter unpeeled oranges with a touching note about how she’d have to start peeling them for herself.



“It’s Time Baby Girl,” he wrote on a wikiHow printout on how to peel an orange with a drawing of himself crying. For the father, this daily ritual was about more than just making lunch; it was about showing that he cared by going the extra mile. “I could have put money on her lunch account,” Tom told Today.com. “But it’s one of those little things I thought was important, that she knows somebody’s taking the time to take care of her.”

The small, daily gesture taught Megan an essential lesson in kindness.

The post reminded people how their fathers’ small acts of kindness meant so much to them. “My dad peeled my oranges until I graduated high school, too. Now, I peel my daughter’s oranges and will for the next 7 plus years,” Katie wrote in the comments. “Love this. My dad peeled mine, too. When I moved out, he gave me an orange peeler gadget,” Mary added.

o organics, albertson's giving backO Organics has a wide array of foods and flavors covering almost everything on your shopping list.via Albertson's

Did you know that every time you go to the supermarket, you can also change the world through small gestures? O Organics not only allows you to feed your family delicious and nutritious organic food, but each purchase also gives back to help people and communities facing food insecurity.

Through contributions from customers like you, O Organics donates up to 28 million meals annually. The company’s contribution is essential when, according to the USDA, 47.4 million Americans live in food-insecure households.

O Organics has a wide array of foods and flavors covering almost everything on your shopping list. “Over the years, we have made organic foods more accessible by expanding O Organics to every aisle across our stores, making it possible for health and budget-conscious families to incorporate organic food into every meal,” Jennifer Saenz, EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer at Albertsons, one of many stores where you can find O Organics products, said in a statement.

O Organics now offers over 1500 items, from dairy products such as eggs and milk to packaged meats and breakfast staples such as cereal bars, granola and oatmeal. You can also enjoy affordable organic produce with O Organics’ fresh salads and fruit.

Everybody wants to make the world a better place. With O Organics, you can feed your family healthy, organic food every time you go to the market while paying it forward by contributing to the company’s efforts to end food insecurity nationwide. That’s a small, daily gesture that can amount to incredible change.

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Mom uses Disney trip to explain why it's harder to parent now than in the '90s

Things that used to be simple are now a complicated nightmare.

via Canva/Photos and Tuxyso/Wikimedia Commons

Disney trips have a lot of parents frustrated.

In the 1990s, you could go to Disneyland or The Magic Kingdom on a whim, show up at the park, wait in line to get a ticket, grab a map, walk in, and have a good time. However, these days, things are a lot more complicated. In 2025, the price of the park changes with demand, and you have to make reservations for the day you hope to visit. Want to eat dinner at a sit-down restaurant? Better reserve your table a few days ahead of time. Want to get on the newest ride? Better hop in the virtual queue when the park opens at 9 am.

Further, the entire time you’re at the park, you’re staring at your phone, following instructions on where to go based on the app. And there aren’t any days when the park isn’t crowded—it’s always crowded. It’s a wonder people have any fun at the park when things are so complicated and expensive.

Why is it so hard to be a parent in 2025?

Sarah Biggers-Stewart, founder of CLOVE + HALLOW, a clean cosmetics line, believes the stress of going to Disney mirrors what everything is like for parents in 2025. “The hardest thing about parenting in 2025 is that the parenting part isn't really that hard. It's everything else,” she said in a post with over 70,000 views. “The amount of participation and engagement expected of parents in literally everything related to raising kids is insane.”

Warning: Strong language.

@thebiggersthebetter

Like the parenting is ofc hard but it’s literally everything else that sucks 😂 #parenthood #momlife #raisinglittles #realtalk #girltalk #motherhood #disneyworld #parentlife

“And nothing perfectly illustrates this better than this Disney trip we're going on next week and the multi-month booking process I've had to go through in order to make sure that we can have a normal Disney trip. Sixty days ago, I had to pre-book at six am, restaurants, activities,” she continued. She adds that it makes her mad because "it doesn't have to be this way.”

Why are children's sports so intense these days?

Biggers-Stewart says the same thing is happening in children’s sports. “We're treating these seven-year-olds like they're all gonna go pro. They can't even go with their families for a week vacation during the summer break because if they miss a week, they're like shunned and benched,” she told her 602,000 followers. "The seven-year-olds are talking about their protein intake, and the parents are being lectured by the coaches about their protein intake. These kids are seven.”

A child jumps over cones playing soccer.It's getting too intense.via Canva/Photos

Many moms in the comments could totally relate to Biggers-Stewart’s frustration.

"The 1st time we did Disney, I did nothing, and it was a nightmare. The 2nd time, I had spreadsheets & binder & it was F-ing magical for my family and satisfied me like I had planned a corporate summit," Booishlady wrote. "I was SWEATING BULLETS trying to get my kid into various summer camps the moment registration opened in JANUARY. And you're right, even basic activities have to be planned and purchased way in advance."

"We decided early on that we weren’t going to overbook our kids with a bunch of extracurriculars. We prioritize family time, which is great, and yet I still feel so much external pressure to do more," Katie wrote.

At the conclusion of her video, Biggers-Stewart boiled the problem down to what parenting is like in 2025: Intense. “Everything is the most intense version that requires the most effort and participation,” she said. “That is why parents in 2025 are burnt the f**k out.”

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Celebrity

Steve Carell calls into high school assembly and announces he's buying 800 students' prom tickets

Carrell did a great thing, but that didn't stop him from going full Michael Scott.

alicewillhelp/Instagram

Steve Carell announces free prom tickets for seniors affected by southern California wildfires.

Actor Steve Carell showed up in a big way for high school students affected by the recent wildfires in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles. The Office actor, 62, partnered with charity Alice's Kids (@alicewillhelp), to pay for all seniors to attend prom at six different high schools in Altadena, California.

According to Alice's Kids founder and executive director Ronald "Ron" Fitzsimmons, Carell will be sending about 800 seniors to prom for free. Fitzsimmons told USA Today that Alice's Kids will donate about $175,000 in total.

The uplifting news was shared via Alice's Kids Instagram page, with a personal message from Carell that was played at each high school via video projection in auditoriums. "A special message from our friend Steve Carell. Right now, this is being viewed by every senior at the six high schools in Altadena, CA!! @stevecarellofficial," the video's caption reads.

“Attention. Attention all seniors. This is Steve Carell with a very special announcement. I work with a wonderful charity based out of Virginia called Alice’s Kids. And Alice’s Kids wanted me to let you know that they will be paying for all of your prom tickets,” he said in the video. “And if you have already paid for your prom tickets, they will reimburse you for your prom tickets. It’s a pretty good deal. Have fun. Enjoy the prom, and remember, this is Steve Carell.”

Fans of The Office will notice that the video is a subtle nod to the hit NBC show, where Carell played boss Michael Scott. During a 2009 episode from the sitcom titled "Scott's Tots," he promises to pay the college tuition for a group of third graders if they graduate. But when the time comes to cough up the cash, he doesn't have it. Thankfully, Carell's donation to Altadena students had a different outcome.

The video got an overwhelming response from viewers, many who caught on to The Office reference. "'Hey Mr. Scott! Whatcha gon’ do? Whatcha gon’ do? Make our dreams come true!' This is beautiful," one wrote. Another commented, "Love this! Scott’s Tots for the win!" And another added, "Scott’s tots is coming true!!"

Another wrote, "thank you so much for blessing our students at Pasadena HS with an unforgettable night of memories ✨️🌹🙏🏼." And another shared, "What a thoughtful way to celebrate kids who’ve lost so much!"

One viewer was also personally impacted: "THANK YOU FOR THIS!! MY SISTER IS ABLE TO GO TO PROM!!🫶🫶🫶," they wrote. still another added, "Thank you @alicewillhelp and @stevecarellofficial on behalf of my Muir Senior 💙💛🐴🙏🏽. You all are awesome!!!!! 👏🏽"

Fitzsimmons told USA Today that Carell and his wife, Nancy, have been involved with the organization for over seven years. The idea to donate tickets to prom came after making numerous calls to schools affected by the wildfires.

"That's when I thought, 'Well, let's do something later on. Later on, all the charities will be gone. The kids who are seniors will be going off somewhere,'" Fitzsimmons told the publication. "So that's when I thought, 'What can we do to lift them a little bit in a few months from now?' That's when the idea of prom tickets came up."

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Joy

Parents share the ways their kids have roasted them, and some are just plain savage

Kids can be so ruthless.

Photo credit: Canva

Kids say the darnedest things, alright.

No one can diss you quite like your family, and that goes double if you have kids. Without that learned filter of decorum, kids can be straight up ruthless with their insults. And most of the time it doesn't even come from a malicious place, which somehow makes it even more of a low blow? But entertaining, nonetheless.

And if you’ve been on the receiving end of a kiddie roast, just know you are not alone. Recently parents shared some of the more heinous razzes they’ve gotten from their own offspring on the very popular r/Parenting subreddit.

It all started when someone asked, “How did your child roast you recently?” Below are some of our favorite responses.

From the unintentionally savage…

“We went to a dance and I told my daughter I really liked dancing with her. She responded ‘I liked dancing alone.’”

gif of kid in sunglasses dancing in a clubDancing by myself, I guess...media2.giphy.com

“Are your legs wide because they’re so muscular? (Me - well, not quite) Oh so they’re just fat then?”

“Where’s mom?” “She’s on the couch like she always is!”

“My mom got my son a watch (he’ll be 3 in June). He wanted me to put it on him. I fumbled a bit and he looked up at me and asked, ‘are you not good at this?’ It was such an innocent tone 😂🤦🏼♀️”

“When my daughter was about 8, she saw my birth year on paper and yelled ‘You were born in the One Thousands???’ I thought calling it ‘the 1900s’ sounded bad enough, I about died at the ‘One Thousands."

To the downright dark…

“I was kissing on my six year old and she was wiping them off saying ‘no more kisses!!’ And I said ‘there will always be kisses! When you’re 40 I’ll still be giving you kisses!!’ And she goes ‘you won’t be alive when I’m 40.’”

“I was very sick over the weekend and my husband brought my son to the bedroom to say goodnight after not seeing me all day because I was in bed sick.

Husband: look, it’s mommy!

2 year old: that’s not mommy, that’s scary.”

gif of child getting scaredOuch.media3.giphy.com

To the roasts that were meant to be compliments, making them the most brutal of all…

“My 3 year-old-son asked me why I'm not very good at drawing. I said ‘Different people are good at different things’ to which he responded ‘Like how you're good at sitting.’ Felt like a double burn.”

“One year for Mother’s Day, my son filled out the sheet the teacher gave and one question was ‘What are your mom’s favorite things to do’ and he answered ‘Taking naps and watching TV.’ Lmao.”

“My 7yo daughter: ‘Even though you’re my Mom, I still kind of like you.’ Thanks sweetheart… I think? 😂”

gif of little girl hugging herselfThanks, Sweetheart?media1.giphy.com

"I like it a lot when you're talking, but I hate it when you sing. But I love it a lot when you sound like a monkey!”

And as any parent of teenagers will tell you, the “fun” doesn't stop when they get older…

"I was at a check-in counter for something (it’s been awhile, can’t remember what for) and the worker needed to confirm my age. My son (12) proceeded to remove the hat from my head, exposing my receding hairline and said ‘yeah, he’s old enough.’”

“Daughter just turned 15 and so I asked if she wanted to get her learners permit (because I take her down to the farm a ton to drive anyways) ‘After seeing how you drive...that's gonna be a no.’"

gif of woman driving poorlyYou do you, then!media1.giphy.com

Wow, with kids like these, who needs enemies? Still, as vicious as they are, you've got to love a kid who’s not afraid to speak their mind.

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Angsty note left by a son to his mom in ancient times proves bratty teens have always existed

That fact that he chiseled into stone…

@dr.esme.louise/TikTok

So all teenagers are awful. Got it.

Ever find yourself lamenting about how bratty, vain, entitled, whiney [insert any additional insult you wish] teens today are? True, maybe our generation didn’t have screen-addicted Sephora kids, but let’s admit that we had our fair share of insufferable-ness. As did teens before us, and teens before them, and so on and so on. Because let’s face it, teen angst is an integral part of life, likely existing throughout every chapter of human history.

In fact, we have a historical artifact proving just that. In a video recently shared to TikTok, Dr. Esmé James (@dr.esme.louise), whose page is dedicated to (often kinky) history, we learn that recorded evidence of teen angst dates all the way back to ancient Mesopotamia in the form of a letter.

The letter—translated from a clay tablet by A. Leo Oppenheim in Letters from Mesopotamia: Official Business and Private Letters on Clay Tablets from Two Millennia—is, as James explains, “essentially just this brat of a teenage boy complaining to his mother about the quality of his clothing.”

@dr.esme.louise brat anthem of the Ancient World 💚 #KinkyHistory#stitch with @Pat Mandziy Translation: Oppenheim, A. Leo (1967). Letters from Mesopotamia: Official, Business, and Private Letters on Clay Tablets from Two Millennia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. #AncientWorld #History ♬ original sound - Dr. Esmé Louise James


In it, the young man bemoans the fact that “From year to year, the clothes of the young gentlemen here become better,” but mom apparently “let [his] clothes get worse from year to year.”

“Indeed, you persisted in making my clothes poorer and more scanty. At a time when in our house wool is used up like bread, you have made me poor clothes,” he writes. Sick burn, kid.

He then does what all teenagers do…he complains about not having what the cool kids have. “The son of Adad-iddinam, whose father is only an assistant of my father, has two new sets of clothes, while you fuss even about a single set of clothes for me. In spite of the fact that you bore me and his mother only adopted him, his mother loves him, while you, you do not love me!”

As one viewer pointed out, this is more or less the equivalent of “all the kids at school wear Jordans but you make me wear Reeboks, you don’t love me.”

Lastly, the tantrum letter ends with either a 180 turn into politeness, or the most passive aggressive line ever: "May the gods keep you forever in good health…for my sake.”

And this all brings James to her very astute conclusion, that “humans have always been human. The centuries may separate us, but brattiness remains.”

Down in the comments, people had a good chuckle, particularly at the fact that this was no willy nilly angry text. The kiddo had to literally chisel this letter out. Talk about commitment.

“Carved into STONE. Boy was fuming,” one person quipped.

Another echoed, “he immortalized his angst on a TABLET OF STONE.”

Goes to show how “kids these days” will never be a phrase that goes out of style. And of course, it shines a light on what our own parents probably had to deal with during our teen years. Maybe they weren’t so terrible after all. And for the parents currently in the throes of raising teens…just remember that you probably were just as ridiculous once upon a time. Godspeed.

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