upworthy

video

Photo by April Walker on Unsplash
Retired elementary school teacher shares biggest parenting mistake she saw during long career

Few people understand kids better than elementary school teachers. Not only do they spend all day with kids, but teachers get to know their students' parents pretty well, too. From parent-teacher conferences to field trips and snack days, it's a collaborative relationship meant to foster their child's development. (And let's be real: what parent hasn't gotten a call from their child's teacher to discuss their *questionable* behavior in the classroom?)

Teachers are full of wisdom about kids, which is why TikToker @elenanico22 interviewed her mom Lisa, a retired elementary school teacher, in an advice video. She asked her mom to share her insights on the question: "What's one thing you saw people messing up with their kids?"

And her response was simple: "They didn't enjoy them." Elena asks her mom to elaborate, and she goes on to share, "Kids are fun. You’ve got to enjoy them. They wanted them to be something that — most of us aren’t exactly what other people want us to be — so enjoy the kid you have."

@elenanico22

Lisa says it like it is #momlife #momsoftiktok #momwisdom #momtok #momhumor #parenting #parentingwisdom

Of course, Lisa fully accepted her own daughter, and turns to Elena in the video and says, "I enjoyed you."

And the comments were flooded with positive replies from parents to her response. "Kids aren’t a chore, they’re a joy. 🥰," one wrote. Another added, "Parents are stressed, and they don’t realize how quickly childhood goes by."

ParentsKids Love GIF by Pudgy PenguinsGiphy

The post also resonated with other teachers and professionals who work with kids. "This is so true. I work in childcare and lots of parents literally cannot stand their kids. They get so angry when we close. They can’t wait to drop them off and pickup last minute. Breaks my heart," one commented. Another wrote, "Toddler teacher. Same. So heartbreaking. I saw it a lot when I worked with highly educated parents with high incomes." And another teacher chimed in with, "So true. As a elementary teacher sometimes playing Barbie Dreamhouse with my 4 y/o is the last thing I want to do but I always do because I know I'll be wishing for it one day ♥️." And another professional shared, "As a pediatrician, I agree."

The video concluded with another piece of strong advice from Lisa, who also dropped this nugget: "Never send your kid to school with carrots." The reason? She explained a story involving a prominent doctor at her school who was "super strict" with what his kids could and could not eat at school.

Carrotshamster GIFGiphy

"So of course what did the kids want? Everything they couldn't," she said. "You are bound to have kids who are going to have food issues."

And plenty of parents offered their thoughts on this. "Omg I love her! Please post more. As a mom I’m enjoying time with my kids, loving their personalities and so anti food restriction teaching them intuitive eating. Because I wasn’t taught those things," one commented. Another shared, "The food statement is so true. My son shared that a boy from his class (who has food restrictions) steals the other kids snacks at school! 🙈❤️😂"

This article originally appeared in January

nadjaa_jovanovic_/Instagram

Four-year-old boy surprised with parade of cool cars for birthday.

Most little boys are *obsessed* with cars. From the loud noises they make to the flashy colors and speed, what's not to love?! So when she was thinking of an epic way to surprise her car-loving son for his 4th birthday, TikTokker Nadja Jovanovic (@nadjaajovanovic) knew exactly what to do to make his day even more special.

She reached out on Facebook to her local car community to ask car enthusiasts in her area if they would stop her neighborhood in Winter Springs, Florida, to show off their hot rods to an eager audience of boys. Little did she know, the response would be overwhelming.

"When you post in your town's FB group asking if anyone with a 'cool car' would come by for your son's bday and the community absolutely SHOWS UP," she wrote in the video's caption, adding, "I asked and the community absolutely delivered the best surprise for my son! Happy 4th birthday, my boy- here’s a police escorted, personal Porsche parade for you 🤣🥹❤️."

@nadjaajovanovic

There is so much good in the world!! Thank you to everyone that showed up for our Porshe loving little boy 🥹❤️ @NewChapte #carlover #porshe911 #porsheclub #birthday #cars #fyp #foryou #community

In the video, Nadja's three sons can be seen leaving their house and coming to their front yard, where a police-escorted parade of cars (including Porsches, BMWs, Lamborghinis, Audis and more) start lining up. "What is that?! Oh my gosh! Wow!" she says, and the boys are ecstatic.

Many of the cars vroom their engines as they pass by before parking so the boys can get a closer look inside the cars. The owners proudly show them off, and the boys are in awe as they get to inspect and sit in many of them.

And viewers shared how blown away they were in the comments. "This is the meaning behind community," one wrote. Another added, "That’s the entire reason to have a cool car." Another viewer commented, "All these men WERE these boys. They are living their own dream making these boys’ dreams come true. 🥹🥹" And another joked, "can you guys pull up to a 32 year old kid’s birthday?"

@nadjaajovanovic

Replying to @Nic_Kelod.eon Thank you to everybody that wished my little guy a happy birthday! Keep spreading kindness & positivity ❤️ #viralvideo #porshe911 #porsche #birthdayboy #thankyou #videoreply #fyp

In a follow-up video, Nadja shared exactly what she wrote on Facebook to get all the cars to show up. In her post, she wrote, "Is there anyone that is a Lamborghini/McLaren/Porsche owner that would be kind enough to come to our home March 24 or even 23rd? My son is turning four and is absolutely obsessed with cars. It would make his ENTIRE LIFE if he could just sit inside of one and see it up close. It would be such a special surprise and maybe 15 minutes tops of your time! Please and thank you!"

@nadjaajovanovic

Replying to @Porsche “Porsh-eh” He’s a cultured man 🤌🏼🤣 #porshe #carsoftiktok #carlover #mclaren #sportscar #birthdayboy #viralvideo #fyp

She added that a handful of people messaged her saying that they would love to come out. After she did some vetting to see if they were part of car clubs and could be trusted, she noted that a man named Mike who offered to show off his car was closely connected with their local police department, the Winter Springs Police Department, and asked to be able to join in on her son's birthday surprise.

The best part? Her son was also gifted a set of Hot Wheels cars from the group.

Education

GE co-founder Elihu Thomson discusses growing up in the 1860's in unearthed video

90 years later people are seeing him on a device he never thought possible.

A photo of a lightbulb and a portrait of Elihu Thomson

We can read all the history books in the world, and still, there’s something magical about hearing about a time period firsthand, from someone who actually lived in it. Especially since, depending on how far back you go, it can be incredibly rare.

Take for instance this video interview, originally filmed in 1932 (wow), which was colorized and shared to Youtube by the ‘Life in the 1800s’ Channel. It features Elihu Thomson, an English-America engineer and inventor who helped bring mainstream electricity to America.

But this video isn’t about his career, but about his childhood memories while living in Philadelphia in the 1860s.

Much of the conversation revolved around Thomson’s first electrical experiments. Apparently, the young, precious lad was “forced out of high school” when he was only 11, and teachers recommended that he use his spare two years to “keep away from the books and to develop physically.”

That, however, didn’t fly with preteen Thomson, who said “if you do that you might as well kill me now, because I’ve got to have my books.” Hey, at least he wasn’t saying that about an iPad.

Thomson essentially homeschooled himself for a couple of years, learning about chemistry and electrical experiments, and even performing a few with his father, who was also scientifically minded. Thomson even recalls at one time “getting even” with his dear old dad by giving him a shock with a handmade leyden jar, or as he called them, "lightening jars.”

history videos, cool history, victorian era, colorized video, vintage videoDiscovery of the Leyden jar in van Musschenbroek's labPhoto credit: Canva

Overall it’s a brief interview, but people found it remarkable nonetheless. It seemed to feel particularly meta how someone clearly passionate about science would be even more floored to see today's technology.

“Imagine sitting there, talking about your life, never knowing that in 90 years a bunch of people will be listening to you from a device you would never believe could ever be possible.”

“This guy witnessed the invention of telegraph, telephone, trains, steamboats, planes, tanks, automatic weapons, automobiles, radio, cinema and probably heard some news about a television device before dying. Amazing.”

People were also amazed by how many groundbreaking firs’ts Thomson must have seen, which are just common, everyday occurrences now.

“This man lived through the civil war, saw the first lightbulb, a telephone call, the radio and then silent and talking films, horses being replaced by cars. Everything we take for granted today. He saw them first. Amazing.”

One person even noted, “It's amazing how much of a difference it makes having this old black and white footage colourised. It just makes it that much more real, and gives a feeling that this wasn't so long ago.”

Lastly, someone argued that Thomson was a prime example of why “fostering your child's creativity and knowledge is so important.” After all, Thomson would develop around 700 patents, and later help found the General Electric company, thanks in no small part support he received from his dad helped him discover his talents as an engineer. Guess that doesn’t change no matter what time period you’re born into.

Watch below:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Celebrity

Resurfaced clip shows a star-struck Frankie Muniz meeting Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Muniz is now a professional racer and finished in 10th place at the Daytona 500 yesterday.

monaco74/YouTube

Frankie Muniz meets Dale Earnhardt at the Daytona 500 in 2001.

This past weekend, actor turned professional NASCAR driver Frankie Muniz placed tenth in the iconic Daytona 500 race. It was Muniz's first race of his first full-time season as a NASCAR driver. " I was screaming!" he wrote on X.

The monumental feat has resurfaced an interview of Muniz meeting racing legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. at the Daytona 500 in 2001–hours before he lost his life. For racing fans, February 18, 2001, is a day they will never forget. Dale Earnhardt Sr. was involved in a deadly 3-car crash during the last lap of the race. His death deeply impacted racing, and influenced important changes in safety protocols.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Muniz filmed a vlog-style video of his experience during the 2001 race, where cameras followed him around. "The Daytona 500. They say it's like the Superbowl of football and the World Series of baseball. You know, the huge race," he says in the video, explaining that he was invited to check out the pit and also ride in a pace car at the event. He gets to meet a number of other racers, including Kenny Schrader–who was racing one of the cars involved in Earnhardt Sr.'s crash.

The video continues with Muniz eerily attending a driver safety meeting. "So we went in, all the drivers were there with their crew captains. It was weird. I never knew that they had to go through that every race," he says.

The video continues, and Muniz meets Jeff Gordon before bumping into Earnhardt Sr. "Dale Earnhardt was right in front of me. He's a legend,. Seven Winston Cup championships. I was actually a little nervous to meet him, but he was really nice. He was really cool. He was like, 'Oh I love your show,' and I was like, 'Oh thanks.' I told him good luck," Muniz says.

He goes on to share how meaningful the encounter was to him. "It was an honor to meet him. To meet another actor is no big deal. It's like 'Oh they're normal, just like me.' But to meet a sports star or NASCAR racer, it's just different," he says. "I become a fan all of a sudden."

Besides finding success as a professional racecar driver, Muniz has continued his acting career. Most recently, it was announced that Malcolm in the Middle will be getting a highly-anticipated reboot on Disney+. Munis helped make the announcement on Instagram, where he shared, "I have been waiting for this moment for 18 years! [since the series finale]. Let's find out where Malcolm and his family are now."

Actor Bryan Cranston also makes an appearance in the video, where he adds, "It's been 25 years since we premiered Malcolm in the Middle. I'm so excited...that I may have peed. Just a little bit. Excuse me."

The series will return with 4 episodes on the streaming channel that will reunite the original cast, including Jane Kaczmarek, per Variety. "Malcolm (Muniz) and his daughter are drawn into the family’s chaos when Hal (Cranston) and Lois (Kaczmarek) demand his presence for their 40th wedding anniversary party," the publication shared. An air date has not been announced, but fans will be eagerly waiting.