The best parenting stories of 2019 - TODAY
The best parenting stories of 2019 - TODAY |
| The best parenting stories of 2019 - TODAY Posted: 26 Dec 2019 11:52 AM PST The last year brought us viral parenting moments, relatable stories about the challenging parts of parenthood, and lots of laughs. There were moms and dads who, like all of us, are just trying to do what's best for their kids while sometimes counting down the hours left until bedtime. As 2019 comes to a close, we've created a list of parenting superlatives. From funniest fashion fail to sweetest photo trend, we hope you'll enjoy this recap of some of the year's best parenting stories. Cutest father-son videoIn a viral video, comedian DJ Pryor and his infant son, Kingston, made us smile as they chatted about a TV show finale together on their couch. Although Kingston was just a baby, he responded to his dad's comments and questions like he knew exactly what was going on. Pryor said when he is home in Tennessee, Kingston follows him around the house and does everything his father does. When working on a stand up bit, Pryor holds a microphone. If he puts the mic down, Kingston picks it up and does his own routine. "He is very animated," said Pryor. "He takes after me." Most genius school assignment hackSchools love to assign kids special projects for the 100th day of school, and Florida mom Rachel Ellsworth cracked us up this year with her brilliant hack for her daughter's assignment to bring 100 items to school on the big day. Ellsworth found a 100-calorie pack of Oreo cookies in her pantry and sent her daughter to school with it. "Here I am on the 99th day of school looking around my house — turns out I have 86 buttons, 72 stickers and only 54 paper clips," Ellsworth said. "I was rummaging through the pantry when I saw my 100 calorie packs of Oreo crisps...my daughter thought it was hilarious and her teacher thought I was a genius. It also doubled as her snack that day." Problem solved. Funniest fashion failWhen 3-year-old Brooklyn Friedlander's mom, Aliza Friedlander, had to head to work early one morning, she asked Brooklyn's dad, Brad, to dress their daughters for school. Later in the day, Friedlander received a text from a friend with a photo of Brooklyn at school wearing training underwear as pants. In a hilarious text conversation, which Friedlander shared on Instagram, Brad defended himself, saying Brooklyn told him they were shorts and pointing out, "at least she was wearing something." Friedlander said, in her husband's defense, Brooklyn does own several pair of bike shorts and even told her dad that was what she was wearing. Still, we're happy for this epic fashion fail and the laughs it provided. Most body-positive dadComedian Fredericks made us laugh this year after a video of him yelling at the beach in Hawaii went viral. "You're gonna get whatever body I give you," Fredericks shouts at the ocean in the clip. "My beach body's on back order — it's on delay 7-10 business years." Fredericks told TODAY Parents that on a trip to Hawaii last year, he made a vow to himself that the next time he vacationed in Hawaii, he'd be in the best shape of his life. When spring break came around in April, Fredericks realized he hadn't made much progress. It was then that the father of two decided to change his mindset entirely. "I figured I wasn't gonna let not having a great body stop me from enjoying my vacation and decided to tell the beach it was gonna get whatever body I gave it," Fredericks said. "That's exactly what I did, and it felt great." Most interesting home remedyOne mom's unorthodox attempt to help clear her baby's chest congestion went viral this year: She used her vibrator. An anonymous woman shared a photo with baby education organization Melons and Cuties of her using the sex toy on the infant's back to help clear congestion. Trending stories,celebrity news and all the best of TODAY. While multiple children's hospitals declined to comment to TODAY about the possible medical effectiveness of this method, Dr. Matt McDonald, the chief medical officer at Children's Specialized Hospital in New Jersey did offer some basic tips to help a child with congestion. "If the baby has a cold or mucus in the nose, I would recommend a basic humidifier and cold suctioning,'' he said. "And if you have concerns that your baby or toddler has congestion in the chest, or if the baby is having trouble breathing, I would recommend that you take them to the doctor before you make an intervention." Best prank pulled on a working momLauren Brown was reading a work email when a recipient named "Poop Your Pants" jumped out at her. "I was like, 'How unprofessional,'" Brown told TODAY Parents. But when Brown clicked on the name, she let out a gasp. "It was me!" she exclaimed. "My picture was there and everything." The mom of Gracie, 7, and Annie, 5, didn't have to look far for the culprit. "I knew if someone sabotaged me, it had to be one of the people I created," Brown explained. Her daughter, Gracie, was behind the prank. And, after Brown explained the situation to her employer, she wrote a viral post on LinkedIn telling the hilarious story. Strongest dad joke game"I call my horse Mayo and sometimes Mayo neighs." "I have a nephew who is half-Indian. Ian." "Drink wine. It isn't good to keep things bottled up." Those are just some of the messages that have appeared on a community center sign in Colorado. Credit goes to Vince Rozmiarek, who calls himself "the king of dad jokes." Rozmiarek has been changing the sign every three days for the last six years, and has built up a large Facebook following for his puns, in addition to bringing travelers from around the world to his small town to take photos of the sign. Best pop culture parenting parodyThe Netflix film "Bird Box" became a sensation when it appeared on the streaming service in late 2018. 2019 brought the "Bird Box" challenge, videos posted online where people tried navigating their own daily tasks blindfolded like Sandra Bullock's character in the popular film. Enter comedians Leeann Dearing and Michelle Fortin, who created their own parody version of the challenge titled "Mom Box." In the funny moms' version of the pop culture phenomenon, the duo puts on blindfolds to avoid seeing the mess their kids have made in their previously clean house. "I thought to myself, 'Moms can do their whole routine blindfolded — except it's winter break and no one is getting anything done. The idea was born there," said Fortin. "Anytime we're out of a routine, chaos ensues which leads to extreme disaster when you're a neat freak like me," Dearing added. "So it's best to just put a blindfold on at times." Most creative gender revealMonster Jam driver Tristan England and his girlfriend, Kierra Hare, took gender reveals to the next level when they used England's monster truck, Earth Shaker, to announce the gender of the baby they were expecting together. At a Monster Jam event in Alabama, England drove his monster truck around the arena, spilling out a cloud of blue powder and balloons to announce the arrival of their baby boy. The adventurous couple later welcomed a son, Karson Crash England, in June 2019. Sweetest photo trendThis year's release of "Toy Story 4" inspired parents around the world to take back-to-school photos of their kids with toy versions of the iconic movie characters. Social media accounts were filled with the sweet images that showed characters like Buzz Lightyear and Woody watching kids walk away. Sigh. They really do grow up so fast. Funniest reason for a school bus evacuationA middle school student put on enough Axe Body Spray to stop a bus this year. A local Florida fire department and emergency medical services unit responded to a report of "hazardous materials" aboard a bus of middle school students, after the bus driver pulled over due to students complaining about a noxious smell. Parrish Fire District Division Chief Mike Williamson interviewed all 30 of the students from Buffalo Creek Middle School who were aboard the bus in an effort to get to the bottom of the mysterious smell. But when he eventually came to a student smelling like a cast member from a "Jersey Shore" middle school spin-off, Williamson says he was able to identify the offending student. Most relatable parenting momentWhen Ashley Clarke learned she was pregnant with her second child, the Florida mom was worried about introducing her 2-year-old son, Jackson, to the new baby. Photographer Jordan Burch captured the moments when Clarke finally introduced Jackson to his baby sister, Emma, and the images went viral. In the photos, 21-month-old Jackson sobs at the sight of his newborn baby sister. Clarke cries, too, seeing her son's reaction. The photos went viral in 2017, and gained attention again this year, proving that Clarke's predicament resonates with second-time moms everywhere. "I felt so torn because I was beyond excited to meet my sweet girl, but my heart broke knowing he was so upset," said Clarke. "I felt like I was letting him down." Funniest high school seniorRising high school senior Evan Dennison won senior photos this year when he demanded to wear a bathrobe in his photo shoot, rather than put on the outfits his mother wanted him to wear. Photographer Tiffany Clark told TODAY Parents when Evan pulled the robe from his backpack she said, "Why are you doing this to me? PLEASE just wear the clothes your mom sent." "I'm going to be a LEGEND," Evan replied. He was not wrong. Best shut down of mom-shamingAfter chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery, breast cancer survivor Meghan Koziel learned she was pregnant with a baby girl. She and her husband, John, were ecstactic. When baby Kendra Jane was born, Koziel had a special sign made for her hospital bed, letting people know there was a good reason she was formula feeding her daughter and asking them not to comment. "No Breastfeeding Zone," the banner read. "Though breastfeeding is a very special task, please be aware before you ask. Our miracle baby will be formula fed, and it will not affect her future ahead. This mommy is a survivor." Funniest father-turned-pretend-grocery-store-employeeAll Aldi-shopping parents related to Travis Cunningham's hilarious viral video this year, in which he pretended to be a cashier at the discount grocery chain. In the video, Cunningham kneels at his kids' Melissa and Doug play grocery store and tosses groceries into a shopping cart. "Welcome to Aldi," is all the El Paso, Illinois father of two says, while his kids and wife giggle in the background. Cunningham said the inspiration for his funny video came from his first shopping trip to Aldi with his wife, Taylor. "I was taken aback by how quickly they scanned and the means in which they placed the items in the cart," said Cunningham. "I thought the worker was just having a bad day and Taylor could tell I was about to say something and basically held her hand over my mouth. I wasn't angry, I was basically laughing wondering if this person just hated canned goods or was going for a high score shooting them into the cart." Never miss a parenting story with the TODAY Parenting newsletter! Sign up here.  Sept. 30, 201900:44 |
| Ask Stew: When to Start Training Again After Rhabdo, Pneumonia or Heat Stroke - Military.com Posted: 24 Dec 2019 08:52 AM PST  Sometimes in advanced special ops selection programs, people get ill, avoid medical and push themselves to keep going regardless of pain or illness. The tough physical fitness standards are hard enough for a healthy person during the average day of spec ops training. When you add in dehydration and lung congestion, the long day of spec ops training can lead to heat exhaustion or heat stroke quicker than normal. That can aggravate the lungs and bronchial passages and cause bronchitis or pneumonia, which can all lead to a perfect storm to get Rhabdomyolysis. Stew, after getting Rhabdo, preceded by heat stroke and pneumonia, I am now out of the hospital (one week now). It has been a long road in training – luckily I am getting rolled to the next class vs being dropped, but I need to get back in shape. When is the best time to start training again? I do not want to relapse and get sick again, but also don't want to continue this downward fitness slide. Thanks. Shane First, make sure you get medical approval before training again. After Rhabdo, you could have some kidney issues or find that other bodily functions seriously compromised. The last thing you need is to have another round of IVs, antibiotics and hospital stays. Make sure medical and training staff are onboard with any training outside of the program. My advice is to treat yourself like a beginner for the first week back into training. Stretch, light cardio, basic calisthenics and mobility work is a good way to start off. Do that every day. Avoid getting overheated; consider an easy swim after the light calisthenics or cardio workout to help keep the body temperature cooler. Consider the mobility day like this: Repeat 4-5 times Bike, elliptical, or row or swim 5 minutes Stretch, foam roll, massage tool 5 minutes Practice Techniques in the water: Swim 10 minutes Tread water 10 minutes (drownproofing skills) Dynamic Stretches in chest deep water 10 minutes If you want to see how you feel, try the System's Check Workout which is very similar to the mobility day sequence, but with added exercises to test out all of your joints. Consider a Heat Tolerance Test – After heat stroke, it can take weeks or months (or even longer) before your body temperature reacts normally to exertion in hot environments. Stay hydrated when sweating profusely and adding electrolytes to your system is critical to your recovery. Pneumonia – Whether it was a bacteria, viral, or swimming induced pulmonary edema (SIPE) that caused your pneumonia, recovery after such lung congestion can take from several weeks to a few months before you can build back up to even 50-60% of your max heart rate. Rhabdomyolysis – When you get Rhabdo, be patient as you are susceptible to relapses as with the above two issues. As with normal training progressions, the answer is to rebuild yourself from a beginner/intermediate level of fitness and not start back up where you left off. That will be frustrating, but patience is required to fully kick this potentially deadly combo of ailments. To be honest, you are lucky that you're still alive, so the reintegration into spec ops level activities may take a few months. See recent study on the phases of increased activity. Just moving to 25% of what you used to do can take at least a month. A return to fully training the way you did prior to selection may take another month or two. Bottom line, you need to recover. Any one of these three ailments wreaks havoc on your body for considerable periods of time. If you get all three in the course of a few days, it will require a special balance of patience and getting medical supervision throughout the next few months to ensure recovery. You will need two months to recover and slowly build back up, then an extra month to train harder to get back to where you were prior to this event. That's the minimum amount of time to get you back to spec ops selection shape. Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL and fitness author certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Visit his Fitness eBook store if you're looking to starting a workout program to create a healthy lifestyle. Send your fitness questions to stew@stewsmith.com. Want to Learn More About Military Life?Whether you're thinking of joining the military, looking for fitness and basic training tips, or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to Military.com to have military news, updates and resources delivered directly to your inbox. © Copyright 2019 Military.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
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