A father demonstrates why it takes so long to make breakfast when you have twin babies. I can imagine it takes much longer to do anything! One baby takes all your time and attention; two will outnumber you, even if you have two stay-at-home parents. The upside is that eventually they will keep each other occupied. The downside is that they will be plotting against you. -via Tastefully Offensive
Claudio Stroe and his older brother Giuliano are gymnasts and bodybuilders in Romania. They've been training since they were very young, so they've built up an amazing amount of strength.
Claudio can perform 90° push-ups, which means that he remains balanced on his hands while pushing his entire body upright over his head. In fact, he can do it 20 times!
In contrast, I can do 0 90° push-ups (I tried).
-via 22 Words
Art is one thing, but art in motion is on a whole different and divine level. The performers for Cirque de Soleil are some of the best in the world at what they do. It is like a Terry Gilliam film brought to life before your very eyes, with zero room for failure.
To get an idea of just how utterly staggering their work is, check out Sparked. Humans and machines, moving in unison. It is like some beautiful fable that unfolds before your eyes in ways you could never have imagined. Keep in mind, were this a scene from a film, it would be all added by computers and MADE to look perfect, but this is live. This is real. This IS perfect. No CG. Just some remote controlled drones and some brilliant minds behind it all.
It is so mesmerizing it is hard to wrap your mind around.
It is actually quite reminiscent of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" but from Fantasia, where Mickey Mouse makes the brooms come to life, and then things get a little out of hand. This is like an adult version of that, only even more amazing to watch. Make sure to check out their YouTube page for more beautiful performances like Sparked.
Okay, is it sprinkling outside, or is it raining? A little boy tries to argue about the weather with a little girl. She’s got a sister for backup, and although the sister makes an attempt to moderate the disagreement, you know the poor little boy feels totally outnumbered. And she poked his heart! There will be a lot more of that in this young man’s life to come. -via Daily Picks and Flicks
Grant Snider of Incidental Comics continues to enjoy and share the intricacies of life with a toddler. It’s astonishing to watch them develop and become distinct personalities, and so many of them follow the same path that other parents can remember and relate. The process of seeing them learn about the world around them and discover their ability to manipulate it is almost magical, but at the same time chaotic and exhausting for parents.
Caspar Babypants makes music for children. “Pretty Crabby” is the first song from the new album Rise and Shine. The video is a wonderful stop-motion animation featuring yarn crafts, by Charlotte Blacker and Mark Taylor. About the song:
This one started out as a really abstract song called PRETTY SPARKLE and I was trying to capture the wonder of being alive in a song. It turned out to be too abstract so I gutted it and made it about this wee crab that I met on the beach on an island a little while ago. It seemed like it was having a bad day and wanted to get me but it was also an amazing creature with its intricate shell. In the end you can listen to this song if you are feeling crabby and maybe it will cheer you up!
Well, it worked for me! -via Tastefully Offensive
You know how kids love to try out what they see adults do? These three siblings staged their own dance battle earlier this week. ShoateZoo’s kids are ages 6, 4, and 2. The two older ones are great dancers, but if it was put to an audience vote, the two-year-old would win just for being adorable. -via Daily Picks and Flicks
(Photo: EvanTubeHD)
This is Evan. He's 8 years old. He earns more money than you and I do. In fact, he earns more money than we ever will.
Is that depressing? Wait--I'm not finished yet.
Evan earns that money by playing with toys, reviewing them, then posting his thoughts on YouTube. For example, here he is trying out a LEGO Ghostbusters kit:
His YouTube channel earns $1.3 million a year. He doesn't get to keep all of that, of course. There are production expenses. But Evan's father invests what's left in a fund for Evan and his siblings.
So, clearly, I should quit my job and make YouTube videos. Then I'll get rich!
-via Marginal Revolution
This cartoon was painful to read because it's accurate.
So when I got home from work, I played with my daughters for a few extra minutes.
This time in their lives and mine will never come again.
Yep, that’s about it. Up to a certain point, your biggest job as a parent is to feed your child and keep him or her safe from the worst consequences of their poor decisions. That point is when they leave home as an adult, and even afterward occasionally. And believe me, the most important job you have for your children’s entire lives is teaching them how to make good decisions on their own, since they come pre-wired to make bad ones. This is the latest comic from Doghouse Diaries.
[removed per request]
Redditor ShavenRaven writes, "People kept commenting on how much hair our baby son has, so naturally this was the next step."
They're appropriate for different developmental steps. He should start out as a mad scientist (we all go through that awkward stage), then have a rebellious year with the surfer haircut, then sell out and become a greasy banker.
Finally, he should stop caring and become the creepy old man, who looks like the happiest guy in this photo.
Some women like a man with a rich, full beard. This little girl is among them.
Bradley Bailey played peekaboo with his toddler. In the middle of the game, he paused to shave his beard. His daughter looked under the towel, expecting to find her father.
But he was gone! In his place was this horrifying, hairless monster.
-via Tastefully Offensive
(Photo: Nik Runs the World)
This is Nikolas Toocheck of Pocopson Township, Pennsylvania. He's only 11 years old, but has already run a marathon. In fact, he's run several of them all of the world, including 2 in Antarctica. He's the youngest person to have run marathons on every continent on Earth.
He earned that title earlier this month after running a marathon through the Caucasus Mountains in the Republic of Georgia. Only 450 people have also run "seven on seven" and most of them are in their 40s or 50s.
Nikolas started running when he was 6 and his father was training for the Air Force Reserve. He jogged with his father, then ran 5k races with him, then full marathons.
He runs because it's fun, but Nikolas also raises money for Operation Warm, a charity founded by his grandfather in 1998. This non-profit donates coats to needy children in the United States.
-via Huffington Post
How do you get a 4-year old to sleep? With great difficulty.
But Riley, the daughter of Casey Carey-Brown of of Boston, found a way. Her little girl, who goes by the nickname "Roozle," likes to color herself to sleep. Give her some paper, crayons, and markers, and she'll quietly doodle and fill in coloring pages until she falls asleep, sometimes with the drawing instruments still in her hands. Carey-Brown felt inspired to capture these precious moments. She explained to the Huffington Post:
Just as making paper pictures has become a bedtime habit for Roozle, capturing the scenes on camera has become one for mom.
"I've always gone in to check on her before I go to bed, but these days with a very active 4-year-old, I find that capturing a moment of sleeping Roozle helps me as a parent too," Carey-Brown said. "Time slows down, just for a moment, in the midst of all the chaos."
Redditor LurkerMcLurkerton says that his daughter's first grade classroom has desks that have bicycle pedals. I love this idea! It would be a great way to help kids who are a bit too energetic to calm down.
Other redditors point out that all of this energy is wasted. The school administrators clearly haven't seen the movie Conan the Barbarian, or else they wouldn't have let this educational opportunity pass by.
-via TYWKIWDBI
