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Saige, a 5-year old girl, doesn’t want you to think of it as a breakup as much as the next stage of the relationship. You’ve both changed, so it’s time to explore other possibilities.

Her big brother Tanner doesn’t want her in the house anymore. So Saige is moving to the home of Jenn, her mom’s best friend. It’s much cleaner and has more room for her stuff.

Fortunately, Saige has backed down from her threat. Now a few days after this video was recorded, she remains in her mom’s house.

(Photo: BBC)

Yoyo Chan is one and a half years old. She has a big task ahead of her: nailing the nursery school interview. Doing so can get her into the best nursery school, which can lead to the best kindergarten, then elmentary school, and, eventually, the best medical school.

It all comes down to now. Focus, Yoyo. Focus.

In Hong Kong, many parents want their kids to offer their best at the competitive nursery school interview process. A dozen openings at a top school can lead to a thousand applications. So some companies now offer to train toddlers to perform better than their competitors during the interviews. Helier Cheung reports for the BBC:

At interview class, Yoyo is asked to greet the tutor and introduce herself. The tutor then asks her to complete a number of tasks, including building a house with bricks, drawing a picture, sticking two felt eyes in the right position on a felt face, and identifying pieces of fruit.

A little shy to begin with, Yoyo quickly warms up and appears to enjoy the tasks and playing with the toys.

"These classes and interviews can be hard work," says her mother, Emma. "But I do want her to be prepared. Most parents want their child to have a good start."

One nursery Emma is keen on had more than 100 interviewees for just nine places, so she'll do whatever she can to increase her daughter's chances of success.

Yoyo's younger brother, still a baby, will begin interview classes in a few months, she says - when he's about eight months old.

-via Dave Barry

We've all had bad neighbors before, whether they play music late at night, throw trash over your fence, have vicious dogs that won't stop barking or let their kids play outside during the daytime. Oh, what's that? You don't think there's anything wrong with a child playing in their own backyard?

Well tell that to the grumpy Arizona neighbor who left this note for his neighbors complaining that:

“Every day this week, when weather has been nice and windows are open, you proceed to let your small child run free in your backyard and laugh and giggle and carry on without end. This is very disruptive for my two dogs and my bird who sits next to the window. … Perhaps you could ask him to tone it down a bit, or at least limit his outside time to 15-20 minutes a day. If this behavior continues I WILL CALL THE POLICE"

The letter was shared online by a freind of the family and has quickly gone viral with many commenters chiming in on what they think the proper way to handle the situation would be. So Neatonauts, what do you think? How would you deal with a neighbor who left a note like this in your mailbox?

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New father Buddy Crotty is already aware that the dark side of the force is strong with his baby Madison. No mantra nor rallying cry of the rebel alliance will calm this kid. Thus, Buddy knows the imitation this situation calls for, and it works like a charm.  -Via The Daily What

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Chris Early of Knoxville, Tennessee, has made the term “helicopter parenting” quite literal, when he used his new video production drone to remotely watch his daughter walk to school without her knowledge.

A few weeks ago Chris's eight-year-old daughter Katie asked to walk to school on her own. Chris said, "She said you're not going to come watch me, but I had another idea."

He got out his drone and took video of her on the way to school. Early says, "I could see other people looking up and I'm sure Katie was just like aw it's my dad."

Katie goes out and flies the drone with her dad. So what does she thinks of that ? Katie says, "I was like oh wow! He didn't tell me so I was pretty surprised."

Yeah, my kids were pretty surprised to find out that I was driving around the neighborhood the first time they walked home from school alone, but that was years after the fact. Now, if my parents had been able to see where I was going and what I was doing as a child, it might have driven them into an early grave. -via The Mary Sue

"My kid can't eat this because of this single bell pepper" | Image: @Shellyyelnats on Instagram

What crazy reasons have your kids given you for rejecting foods served to them at meal or snacktime? The reason for the veto might make perfect sense to their little brains, but it can cause parents the occasional frustrated moment, having just taken time to prepare the food.

The Instagram account "My Kid Can't Eat This" highlights the funny side of the situation, presenting photos of the rejected foods with the accompanying excuses. Check it out for a laugh, or to see that you're not alone having a child in the picky eater's roundtable. -Via Pleated Jeans 


"My kid can't eat this because it has fork holes in it. He keeps saying it's sad while the new one I gave him is happy"
Image: Micki Felix

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A man plays Pie Face with his grandson. The game is a bit like Russian Roulette, but the worst that can happen is you could get whipped cream thrown on your face. It’s a simple slice of life, but the laughter of these two is so infectious, it will leave you with a smile on your face! Original video by Sharon Boswell Obrien. -via Daily Picks and Flicks

Redditor razz32 obviously saw the entertainment value in this email invitation he received to the celebration (?) of a one-year-old child's birthday, as he posted it to Reddit. The email leaves no question as to pretty much any move that anyone planning to attend could make. If someone showing up at this party has an itch, it's a good bet that a protocol has been devised by these parents as to how it should be scratched.
 
As you can see, the image above is only a portion of the requests included in this gracious invite. See the missive in its entirety here. -Via Mashable

When third grade teacher Kyle Schwartz asked her students what they wished she knew about them, she started a huge wave of response. Schwartz teaches in a low-income, Denver, Colorado school district in which many households are operating below the poverty line. Encouraged to honestly share their experiences, anonymously if desired, some students gave somber answers.

Schwartz found that many students wanted their name on their replies and didn't mind sharing them. She posted a number of the students’ notes on Twitter last month, which quickly caught on worldwide under the hashtag #IWishMyTeacherKnew. The project has become a movement for community fundraising as well. The teacher's empathy and effort to prompt honest communication without stigma or shame has touched more people than she ever could have imagined. 

-Via Daily Dot | Images: Kyle Schwartz/@kylemschwartz on Twitter

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Eight-year-old Alissa Sizemore has taken dance lessons since she was four. In May of 2014, a truck ran over her right foot, and it was amputated below the knee. She was back in the dance studio even before she received her prosthetic leg. Less than a year after the accident, Alissa performed a solo at her dance school’s recital. The song is "Try" by Colbie Caillat, which Alissa says is an inspiration to her. Watch as she starts off dancing with her new leg, and then removes it for more freedom. The audience was impressed -and so am I! -via Buzzfeed

Some people were born to be wild, but others were just born to be nerds -and there's nothing wrong with either. 

Of course, that being said it's hard not to love these 22 adorable pictures of new-born geeks in their native environments.

From superheroes to Whovians and from readers to gamers, the pictures are all utterly adorable and remind us that being a parent means starting your young one on a path to success.

Seth Casteel, a photographer in Venice, California, has developed a specialty by capturing his subjects underwater. He makes crisp, clear images that show his subjects at perfect moments.

In the past we've seen Casteel apply his skills to puppies and adult dogs. His most recent photo book is Underwater Babies. You can guess what it shows: adorable babies swimming joyfully underwater. They're often costumed, such as the mermaid you see above. You can see more sample images here.

-via Flavorwire

Redditor Sloppy_Episiotomy posted this picture of his baby's nursery saying, "The wifey said I have to take this down from my daughter's nursery immediately or she's taking the baby and leaving me." While some sites, like Nerd Approved have claimed that this is not appropriate decor for a baby's room, others have argued that it's a perfect way to start indoctrinating your children to love geeek culture from a young age. It's also a great option if you want your child to get possessed by a god. What do you guys think?

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Fourth-grader Sydney Smoot appeared before the Hernando County (Florida) school board to say a few things about the FSA (Florida Standards Assessment) tests she and her classmates will be subjected to. This kid has a bright future ahead of her. She’s cute as a button, but that’s not as important as the points she brings up in her prepared speech. You have to be really suspicious about a test that makes a kid sign a no-discussion contract and for which neither the child nor the teachers benefit from learning the results. You can see an interview with Sydney here. -via Time

A 4-year old girl in Philadelphia woke up in the middle of the night feeling hungry. She wanted a Slushie. Not unreasonably, she decided to acquire one. She got dressed and left her home. It was raining heavily outside, but that did not deter her from walking to a bus stop. When a bus arrived, she boarded. The scene was captured by security cameras.

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The bus driver, Harlan Jenifer, called the police, who took the girl to a hospital. Her parents picked her up and took her home. She didn’t get a Slushie and her parents changed the locks on their home to prevent a future escape.

-via Stuff