Exes are often embittered by the breakup, and therefore hate their ex's new partner by proxy, but when kids are involved couples try to put aside their bitterness for the sake of the children.

Divorced mom Audrey Nicole isn't bitter about her breakup, nor does she want to knock her ex's new girl- she wants to show her appreciation for how nice the other woman is to her daughter.

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Audrey posted this heartfelt letter to her ex's new girlfriend on Facebook's Love What Matters Page along with the photo below, to express how grateful she is that the new gf is so sweet to her daughter Riley.

This story should inspire exes who don't get along to consider how their hatred might affect the kids caught in the middle, and always remember the new person in your ex's life will be spending time with your kids- so try to keep your cool!

-Via Bored Panda

The top ten baby names of 2016 are nothing to write home about, as they are very close to the lists for 2015. The top six girls names ranked the same, and the top eight boys names are the same, but in a slightly different order. But that's not the big story here. Let's take a look at what names a little further down the list gained popularity in 2016. According to Buzzfeed, it appears pop culture played a part, because Tyreese, Hershel, and Carol all rose in popularity, thanks to The Walking Dead. The Netflix show Stranger Things may have played a part late in the year, as Dustin, Mike, and Joyce all rose. Banner and Harley made astonishing leaps in popularity. But it's not just pop culture: Hillary rose 64% and Ivanka was up 39%. See the top 100 names of 2016 for both boys and girls at BabyCenter. -via Uproxx

 

Parents can't seem to agree on whether there's a secret to raising good kids or not, and for every person who swears they know the secret there's an absentee parent who managed to raise a good kid even though they're never home.

But the secret to raising a good kid is the kind of thing behaviorists and psychologists love to argue about, and these experts love to boil it all down to one easy to remember list whenever possible.

According to human development experts at Harvard University there are 6 or 7 main "guideposts to raising caring, respectful, and ethical children"-

1. Teach children to control their emotions

2. Talk to them about taking responsibility for their actions

3. Teach your children to be compassionate and help the weak

4. Teach your children to be grateful

5. Instill your family values in them and show them what constitutes good behavior

6. Spend more time together

7. Be a good role model and mentor

You can read more detailed descriptions of each entry on this perfectly reasonable list of tips created by Harvard University here, sounds like rock solid advice to me!

Read The 6 Secrets of Raising a Good Kid According to Experts at Harvard

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The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. This toddler is learning to be just like the adults she sees around her. When a new parent sees things like this, it really drives home the importance of setting an example. Well, to be honest, that revelation comes after your initial reaction, which is to grab another phone and record the fun for viral posterity. -via reddit

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Give him a minute; this kid will figure it out. Or two minutes. When he finally does, he has no embarrassment at all, he's just glad he found them! Funny, but it can happen to anyone. Redditor machalllewis is proof of that.

I once went to the supermarket a few miles from me, picked up some food for dinner that night, put it in my backpack and then walked back home. It wasn't until I got home that I remembered that I had biked there.

The difference here is that I was 22 when I did this.

Have you ever looked for your car keys while you were driving? Or used the light on your phone to look for your phone? I don't think you can beat GreenHatSam's story.

On moving day (years ago) I lost my 1 year old son.

Lots of people moving boxes and vehicles. It was chaotic. I went looking for my kid. He Wasn't in the yard, not in the house. I called out for him. He said, "Mom!"

Ok. Good. He's within ear shot, I just don't see him. I called out for him again. Again, he answered me. He sounded close.

I just stood still and looked around.

Found him on my hip. I was holding him the entire time.

You'll find more of these stories at reddit.

Stay-at-home dads are often seen as unmasculine and stigmatized by those stuck on outdated gender roles, but people need to get over their hang-ups and give these dads the credit they deserve.

There's nothing wrong with a father wanting to stay at home while their wife or partner brings home the bacon, and once you peruse the photos of Johan Bävman you'll see how hard they work for the sake of their family.

Some of Johan's portraits are staged, others capture intimate moments from the point of view of a fellow family member, but they're all effective in conveying an emotional message about the importance of togetherness.

Plus the kids seem to have just as much fun with dad as they would with mom, and they clearly don't see the difference, so maybe it's time people traded in their 1950s mentality for a modern mindset?

See Photographer Documents Stay-At-Home Dads And Their Kids In Sweden here

The simple act of sliding around atop the snow on a board, also known as snowboarding, isn't all that difficult in itself, so it's not that surprising to see a little kid on a snowboard.

But Sloan isn't technically a kid in this video- she's a 14-month-old who started snowboarding around the same time she started walking.

Sloan's dad Zach Henderson took her out to Park City Mountain Resort in Utah for the first time earlier this year, where she proved age ain't nothin' but a number when it comes to snowboarding.

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Sloan will be just over two years old in January 2017, so hopefully her dad will take her out again and shoot another vid so we can see if she's gotten any better in the last year!

-Via CountryLiving

Daylight Savings Time makes for some weird situations -one particularly strange example took place this year, when Emily and Seth Peterson gave birth to twins on November 6. One twin, Samuel, was born at 1:39 AM, but the later born twin arrived after the time change -at 1:10 AM. So which one is older -the one born first or the one born at an earlier time?

Women understandably have little patience for joking around while giving birth, but Tanya Ferguson's goofball of a boyfriend wasn't going to stop being punny just because Tanya was about to have a baby.

In fact, her boyfriend James Riley sees childbirth as the perfect time to test out his new extra punny material on poor Tanya, who keeps on smiling even though you know she's dreaming about strangling James.

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Cracking a few punny jokes to ease the tension in the birthing room would have been fine, but James' comedic pun-ishment went on for five full days...I guess that's why his kid is already filing for emancipation!

-Via Laughing Squid

Set your clocks back an hour Saturday night before you go to bed. If you are a night owl, set them back at 2AM Sunday, because that's the end of Daylight Saving Time in the United Sates this year. This one is the "good" time change. If you are on a schedule, this gives you an extra hour of sleep, the one that you lost back in the spring. If you can't sleep longer than you normally do, then you'll be up early and rarin' to go for a few days before you get used to it.

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WhatsUpMoms sees the upside to this time change when it comes to getting kids to fall asleep in the evening and up for school on time. If you can keep the effect for yourself until Tuesday, then you can be at the polls early to vote. -via Boing Boing

Children's drawings are adorable in part because they are so strange and completely inaccurate. That's why it's so fun to see those drawings adapted by adults -especially in the case of Instagram user thingsihavedrawn's adaptations of his son's artwork.

The literal Photoshop recreations of lions, zebras, elephants and more are so bizarre and almost creepy that you can't look away and it sure makes you look in kids' drawings in a different light.

Via Sad and Useless

While you might think you want your daughters to grow up sweet and agreeable, the real world demands that they be able to take care of themselves. And that’s one of the best things you can teach them. I have one child who has always been a stubborn contrarian. It was frustrating. It was difficult. But as she grew I was also proud of how strong and self-determined she is. She can take care of herself, and that’s worth more than all the affection she could have shown her parents. The concept is illustrated for even toddler age girls in the latest comic from Lunarbaboon.

Some kids can't keep their eyes open no matter where they are when they get tired, other kids will fight naps as if they know Freddy's gonna come after them as soon as they fall asleep.

And then there's the obedient little boy in this video post by America's Funniest Home Videos- who falls asleep as soon as his dad gives the okay.

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I know many parents wish they could also master the power of sleep permission, maybe the dad in this video should start holding workshops?

-Via Laughing Squid

You did it when you were a kid. Your parents did, too. Maybe even your grandparents. Kids love to get trucks to honk their horn, and that pumping gesture will do it is the driver sees you. This little girl tried it with a ship.

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As you can see, she got more than she expected! -via Viral Viral Videos

People jokingly wish they had more arms or legs so they can get more stuff done, but I've never heard anyone wish they had more fingers and toes.

That's because most people know the excess digits created by polydactylism make life harder- they decrease manual dexterity, attract unwanted attention and make it hard to live a normal life.

Polydactylism usually creates one or two more digits, which is fairly easy to fix with surgery, but what does someone born with 31 fingers and toes do about this issue?

A baby boy named Hong Hong will someday have to learn how to live with 31 fingers and toes unless his parents can raise enough money to pay for the costly surgery.

The boy was born with no thumbs and two palms on each hand, so doctors will have to figure out how to construct functional, opposable thumbs for the boy in addition to removing the extra digits.

Hong Hong's mother has the same condition, but her extra digits don't interfere with the normal function of her hands.

-Via 22 Words