Watching your kid's first steps is an emotional, exciting, nothing-like-it experience. But imagine you're a marine, and have been deployed in Afghanistan for seven months. And imagine further, if you will, that your son has cerebral palsy and you have been told he would never walk. This video of a marine's reunion with his son is beyond moving. The grinning kid's determined walk, the big bear hug, the happy little clump of kids as the whole family swarms around Daddy. Hello, hanky.
I find myself chewing over the story between the lines here, thinking about Michael's mother. According to the Jacksonville Daily News, she and her FOUR OTHER CHILDREN all helped Michael learn to walk, and kept it a secret until their father's homecoming. Talk about unsung heroes: This family seems to be full of them.
More:
Women in the Armed Forces
A Military Mom Never Forgets
I find myself chewing over the story between the lines here, thinking about Michael's mother. According to the Jacksonville Daily News, she and her FOUR OTHER CHILDREN all helped Michael learn to walk, and kept it a secret until their father's homecoming. Talk about unsung heroes: This family seems to be full of them.
More:
Women in the Armed Forces
A Military Mom Never Forgets
Hey there, Friday! It's always so good to see you. Here are a few more things we're glad about...
Who's cooler? The dad who agreed to this dance routine or the daughter who wanted to perform it in front of all her friends? (Via Today Show)
Who's cooler? The dad who agreed to this dance routine or the daughter who wanted to perform it in front of all her friends? (Via Today Show)
| Photo: Thinkstock |
Okay, I admit, the first time these girls were roller-coaster-shrieking across my path I suffered a fit of motherly indignation. What if they ran into someone? What if the chair rolled into the street? Didn't they have homework to do? Then a particularly raucous trill of laughter refocused my attention: these kids were having fun. Serious fun. For hours -- and they really seem to do this every day -- and with nothing more than an old office chair. It doesn't have Justin Bieber's face on it (I don't know, is that even what girls that age like?). It doesn't have any buttons or screens. It barely has wheels. But these girls make it so fun I sometimes wish I could hop on for a crazy, wobbly, stare-inducing, super-fun ride myself.
What's boring you? Making dinner? Paying bills? Waiting in line at the grocery store? Could a slight change in perspective make these things less like desk chairs, and more like roller coasters?
Read More:
Find Your Own Fun
The Best Cardboard Arcade Ever
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But possibly I am something more than I suppose myself to be. —René Descartes |  |
| Photo: Thinkstock |
This doesn't just make us feel tired and distracted--the researchers have found that living against your body clock can also make you gain weight. In a recent paper in Current Biology, Roenneberg estimates that for every hour of social jet lag, the risk of being overweight or obese rises about 33 percent, NPR reports.
Roenneberg's (rather unhelpful) advice is to pay attention to your body clock and get as much sleep as you need. But it's just not practical for most of us to get back on the sun's schedule--even modern farmers probably stay up past dusk to check email, Skype with Mom and watch HBO. We all know that sleeping differently on the weekends than you do during the week does you no favors. The fact that it makes social jet lag worse is one more reason to avoid staying up late on Saturday nights and snoozing on Sundays. By making it a priority to keep a consistent sleep schedule, at least then you'll only be juggling two clocks instead of three.
Keep reading:
14 ways to get a good night's sleep
Men! What are they thinking? We can't always answer that, but we'll be posting our favorite glimpses into their world in this space every Thursday.
* "The purpose of life is the expansion of happiness and the ability to love and have compassion."—Deepak Chopra takes Oprah on a tour on India and shares insights about living in the present and embracing the mind-body connection. (O Magazine)
* Who can say no to a little eye candy? Vogue has some delicious pictures of America's top male Olympic athletes. (Vogue)
* Jim Henson passed away 22 years ago yesterday. His friends the Muppets created this tribute to the man and his imagination. (YouTube)
* "I've been told specifically that I will be able to punch Justin Bieber in the face."—Drew Magary spends a wild (and very funny) night with the newly 18-year-old pop star. (GQ)
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| Photo: George Burns/Harpo Inc. |
* Who can say no to a little eye candy? Vogue has some delicious pictures of America's top male Olympic athletes. (Vogue)
* Jim Henson passed away 22 years ago yesterday. His friends the Muppets created this tribute to the man and his imagination. (YouTube)
* "I've been told specifically that I will be able to punch Justin Bieber in the face."—Drew Magary spends a wild (and very funny) night with the newly 18-year-old pop star. (GQ)
| Photo: Thinkstock |
A Ketchup with No Mystery Ingredients
Using vine-ripened pear tomato puree instead of tomato concentrate is just one of the tweaks that makes Sir Kensington's Gourmet Scooping Ketchup taste less sweet and more, well, tomato-y. Other upgrades that set this ketchup apart: agave nectar, honey and raw brown sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup; apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar; and coriander, lime juice and allspice instead of salt and onion powder.
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I don’t let go of my thoughts—I meet them with understanding. Then they let go of me. —Byron Katie | |
| Photo: Getty |
On worthiness: "Because the mighty and the strong don’t hold women in high regard, we feel that we’re not worthy of being held in high regard. So we miss one of the greatest steps a woman can take, which is the chance to be on her own side; to be her own health advocate. You really have to believe you’re worthy. That is the first step."
On fear. "So many of women don’t trust authority. They’re afraid of the mammogram machine. They’re afraid of the Pap smear. But those of us who know must show! Really, it is imperative that we not stop talking. We must not become impatient. And we must not think that we can lecture women into thinking better of themselves and their health. What we do is we love them. A person knows when somebody really cares."
On colds. "I think quite often the mind can heal the body. In fact, if
I’m traveling and in a hotel, and I wake up with a little scratch on my throat,
I get up and begin to shout, “Get out of my body! I don’t need you! Get out!
Get out of my body! Now, now!” Later, I go outside and the maids will
be in the lobby and they look around like, “Who tried to get into that woman’s body?”
It’s funny, of course. But you have to give your body permission to heal itself.
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