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Want to make sure you get your steps in? It helps to live in a fairly flat place.

Even for the parents who prioritize showing up for their kids, missing an event now and then might be unavoidable. But certain occasions are more painful than others when a parent can’t show up, and fatherless father-daughter dances undoubtedly fall into this category. Earlier this year, six-year-old Harper was nearly put in this situation when her dad couldn’t show up to her dance studio's annual summer showcase—which normally includes a father-daughter dance—because of a work commitment.Thankfully, her 14-year-old brother Micah is the coolest brother in the world, and stepped up to take her dad’s place so she wouldn’t miss out. In a now-viral video posted to Instagram by Harper and Micah’s mom, Patrice Thompson, we see the duo have a blast as they twirl in circles, fist bump and end with an adorable lift for their “Barbie and Ken” themed routine. “Core memory for the team today,” Thompson wrote in the caption. “I don't know if he knows what an impact he's making as her big brother, but she'll never forget this.” See on Instagram Micah didn’t just have an impact on Harper. So many people left comments sharing how impressed and moved they were by the kindness he showed.“In a world of boys he is a gentleman,” one person wrote, referencing a Taylor Swift lyric. Here’s a few more: “As a man whose dad walked away from me, this makes me so emotional. You are raising your son to be the cycle breaker. He won’t end up repeating cycles of toxic masculinity like so many of the men we see today. he will be a better man. And his little sister will grow up knowing what a real man should be like, because she has her big brother to show her.”“Bless his sweet heart. I know how big that is for a 14 year old to put himself out there. Major props!”“Watching him lift her up at the end got me i can’t lie i teared up ??”“As a girl who had my older brother participate in my “father-daughter” dances for drill team in high school, this made me soo emotional! ? this is a special moment they will remember forever.”“Does your son know he's a legend?” See on Instagram In an interview with Newsweek, Thompson shared that while she is “so proud” of her son, especially since most boys his age “would rather do anything else than perform a routine in front of their peers and during summer when he could be off with friends,” she is “not super surprised” that he what he did. “That's the young man he is!" she exclaimed, adding “he truly understands the meaning of being selfless.To all the brothers who would show up for their siblings in this way—thank you. Your generosity and compassion really do help make the world a better place, and it doesn’t go unnoticed.

The start of school comes around every year at the same time and yet it never ceases to feel like a surprise when it's time to go school shopping. Parents go walk the aisles at big chain stores holding the magical school supply list that's supposed to detail all the things needed for your child's grade. Four plastic pocket folders in red, blue, yellow and green, but they have to have the prongs. Three large pink erasers, a 24 pack of Ticonderoga number two pencils, glue, scissors, composition books–the list seems to never end. But it seems just when you've gotten everything checked off the list, including the optional things, something comes up to remind you that elementary school isn't done with your bank account yet. Andrea Kirven recently uploaded a video in hopes to help parents out so they're not frantically shopping at the last minute for last minute items by sharing items that aren't on any school list but absolutely should be. There's so much more than school supplies that even seasoned parents forget about but thanks to Kirven, you can grab it before the demand kicks up. “We go through this every year so I don’t know why you’re not even thinking about it. You'll need three additional shirts: college day, sports day, grinch. Don't forget the western outfit, crazy hair day and school appropriate PJs. They're going to ask you for a hat and a water bottle in the middle of the school year, go on and get it," Kirven says. The list continues and parents are not only here for the reminder of this invisible school supply list but are sounding off on how accurate it is. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Andrea Kirven (@mommyandnixon2022)One person laughs about the accuracy of it all, "Oh how accurate this is, the constant last minute struggle to find the right shirt or thing for school. Thank you for this lol.""My girls call the nice pajamas that are specifically for school, “Serious Pajamas” Anytime they see new pjs in their closets, they always ask if they are “regular” or “serious” pjs before they will wear them," a mom reveals. Some people chimed in with additional items that will inevitably come up before the end of the year as a reminder to purchase them in advance when possible. "Pink for cancer, Sports day t shirt, Blue shirt for autism awareness. Ugly ugly sweater shirt, Ugly t shirt day," someone writes.A teacher chimes in saying, "I thought this video was for teachers then I realized she is talking to parents. Funny thing is teachers need all the same stuff. So darn expensive! As a high school teacher also get ready for them to ask for a donation for some club, event or activity every week, sometimes twice a week. Also buy club shirts etc. if I would have said yes to everything this past year it would have been thousands! I do what I can but definitely not everything."The seasoned mom even received an informal nomination, "Ok where can we sign the petition - this QUEEN for National PTA President 2024/202."School is starting around the country and while these things aren't required to start the school year, it will likely make a parent's life easier to slowly buy these things before school spirit gets into full swing. Pro tip: thrift stores are great for locating a lot of the things mentioned in the video for a fraction of the price.

It’s great when families have involved grandparents to help create those oh-so necessary villages for raising kids. However, when disagreements as to how to raise kids—and the power struggles that follow—arise, it can make for a less-than-peaceful village. Let’s face it, it’s hard for everyone involved. Parenting has evolved, and things that worked “back in the day” don’t necessarily work now. So many Gen X and millennial parents are painfully aware of things that didn’t serve them as kids, and don’t want to repeat that pattern for their own children. Plus, it’s really hard to instill some kind of structure when that structure is constantly being undermined. But at the same time, it can be difficult for grandparents to just sit idly by while their adult children make decisions that could come back to haunt them later. After all, the parental instinct to protect doesn’t necessarily expire. Still, one grandma has some pretty sagely advice for all the well-intentioned grandparents out there. Maria, better known as “Mom-Mom Maria,” who regularly posts about her life as a grandma, recently shared her strategy for handling parental disagreements with her own adult daughter. “If I don’t agree with every little decision that my daughter makes for the baby, I usually don’t say anything,” she said. Still she admitted that “sometimes I can’t help myself.” For this Mom-mom (the common term for “grandma” in New Jersey), the one thing she couldn’t stay silent about was the sippy cup and straw her granddaughter Prue was given to drink milk before bed. Maria was asked to put Prues’ milk in said supply cup while she and her husband were babysitting for the night. Though she at first resisted because she felt Prue was much too young to drink out of anything but a bottle, she recognized “it’s not my decision. I’m not the decision maker.” “I’m not the mom: I’m the Mom-Mom, the privileged Mom-Mom that gets to babysit her,” she said. @mommom.maria #mommom #genxtiktoker #babytok #toddlertok #millennialmom #babybottle #drbrowns #sippycup #grandparentsoftiktok #babysitting ♬ original sound - MomMom Maria So, Maria did as her daughter instructed, and lo and behold…no problems. Prue drank her milk just fine. “So I guess my daughter was right and that’s really what I wanted to say to the other grandmothers,” Maria concluded. “You don’t have to agree but you have to do it.” Down in the comments, so many parents found Maria’s stance to be a “breath of fresh air.” “Say it louder for the generations that think we don’t know what we’re doing as ‘young’ parents,” one person wrote. Another quipped, ““I was getting ready to tussle but glad I’m on the grandma’s respecting their kid’s decisions side.”Even fellow grandparents commended Maria’s take. One wrote, “thank you! Wish more grandparents understood this. I thought the perk of being a grandparent is that you don’t have to make any parenting decisions. You just get to enjoy the grandchildren.” “That’s right,” echoed another. “Their kids, their rules. I’ve raised my kids, their turn. And yes, blessed to be grandma!” And perhaps this was the best comment of all: “And the only thing your kid and grandkid will feel is love, support, and respect…and it’s that easy. And we all wish we had someone like you in our lives.” So true. It might feel uncomfortable to let go of control, but the payoff is a stronger, healthier, more empowered family unit. In the end, it might be a pretty small sacrifice.