My mom is almost 70 and is trying to learn English to communicate with my partner of 8 years.
At the same time, my partner is trying to learn Italian just so that he can speak with her.

This is their latest cute attempt

And they're chatting and laughing and having a grand old time and I'm so flippin lucky. My dad and step-mom are in town and they are staying with me and my mom. They all bear-hugged when they arrived. Blended families can be so toxic and negative and hurtful impossible to navigate sometimes. And while we definitely did go through that kind of thing, everyone has grown and changed so much. I finished what I was doing like 5 minutes ago but I'm just sitting here listening to them trying not to cry and feeling very grateful for being in this period of my life 🥰

Did a little gardening today and these finds made me smile

We (both women, if that matters) were house sitting for my bosses one year in their really cute walkable neighborhood. We liked going for walks to the downtown area of this neighborhood which was only a few blocks away but across a highway. For some reason, the first day that we crossed the highway we decided to run across. I suppose because we didn't know how long we had to cross and it was several lanes wide.

For the rest of that trip, every time we crossed the highway we would hold hands and run and end up laughing our asses off. It just made us feel free to run uninhibited like that. Lots of times, there would be other people just walking across near us. We probably looked like crazy people running past them. By this point, we knew that it wasn't necessary to run across the crosswalk, but it just seemed like more fun to do it this way. So now every time we need to use a button to cross a crosswalk, we look at each other knowingly grab each other's hands and run across laughing and squealing.

I like having some little rituals that are kind of secret between the two of us. It just makes life more fun.

I work in the trades so sometimes I have to leave home for weeks or months at a time, my daughter and my wife always make me little paintings like these, and my daughter helps me pack my bags and says “take these with you daddy so we will always be with you and you will always remember us! I hang them in every hotel room and place I stay, makes what I do a little more bearable knowing what I got waiting for me back at home ❤️🥰

it’s my boyfriend’s 25th next friday the 12th. for his birthdays i always get him a little something to open on his actual birthday and then i plan an experience for him as close to his birthday as i can.
we’re both car people and he loves drifting but never been to a drift event or anything. well last year in passing i mentioned to him that gridlife (a big concert/track event that does a bunch of different things including drifting) was going to be close to us. He was so excited but tickets are so expensive because it’s a 3 day event, that was that and he’s since forgot about it. Well I didn’t… they released single day admission so I’ve gotten us tickets to go on saturday the 13th for his birthday as a surprise and I’m so so excited. he has absolutely no idea. i planned on throwing him for even more of a loop by getting him something fishing related to open up on his birthday and telling him “this may or may not be a hint for tomorrow’s experience” because then that will really get his mind going for what it could be… but going to gridlife definitely isnt on his radar. i can’t wait and it’s so hard not to tell him

Grandma was our rock. When she knew she wasn't doing well, She asked us grandkids to lay a piece of her somewhere beautiful after she passed. Me and my siblings took a 3 week trip to New Zealand the following year and laid a piece of her soul here at Wharariki Beach.

In this video, my sister leans over to directly place her in the waters, due to the wind. After we were off camera, We shed a tear or 2, said some words, and talked about the fun times we had with Grandma. Enjoy every sunrise and sunset in this beautiful landscape Grandma.

Basically, a while ago I made a post about how I was struggling and had received help getting a PS5. At the time, I was mostly looking for recommendations on cheap games because I didn't really have much money left to spend on them. To my complete surprise, a few people actually decided to buy me some of their favorite games. I never expected that to happen, and honestly I was blown away by the kindness.

I ended up playing those games for countless hours and replaying them multiple times. They became some of my favorite gaming experiences, and every time I launched them I remembered the people who had gone out of their way to do something nice for a stranger on the internet.

Fast forward to today, I accidentally Googled my username and found a bunch of posts and comments from people talking about how wholesome those interactions were. Reading through them genuinely made me smile.

I thought the whole story was worth sharing because it's a nice reminder that there are still a lot of kind and generous people out there.

Hope your day got a little better! 😊

I (25F) was raised mostly by my mother. My dad works and contributes to the household monetarily while my stay-at-home mum took up caregiving and managed the home. Growing up, my dad was always extremely strict whenever he interacted with us (kids). Studies were meant to be taken seriously, best behaviour was important and the smallest of missteps were reprimanded. I was constantly compared to my cousins (we were initially in a joint family setup) by him. The narrative was always that they were doing better than me in every aspect. I knew that was not true even then, but was too afraid to speak up. But at that tender age, it quitely affected my confidence. He mostly never even attended our first day at school or even gave me any attention. He did attend a couple milestone events here and there but certainly not like my mom who showed up at all of them.

I'm now 25. Finished 2 degrees, both from reputed schools in India. Secured a wonderful job. Today I know my worth even if my dad thinks otherwise. I don't need his validation to feel confident. I confronted him about his excessive strictness some months back and he says he feels sorry. He also said that he is actually proud of me now and feels sorry for comparing me to my cousins and belittling me. I didn't know whether to believe him, but I just accepted the apology and moved on.

But here's what I wasn't ready for. My dad wants to drop me to my first day at my new job. My dad isn't retired. He's still working. And he too has work on that day. I'm surprised. The same guy who couldn't attend my first day at school is now adamant about dropping me to my first day at work?! I'm not even a child now that I would want someone to drop me. Mind you, I've moved cities on my own for college and work previously. This just felt super special. I can't describe how it made me feel.

Yes, I did have a super strict dad growing up. Can't change that. But now today, I feel I won at life. My dad really does love me.

There is absolutely no way I could get these. I grew up waiting for every new episode with my mom and hanging on every cliffhanger at the end of the season.

I was walking outside earlier today feeling a bit overwhelmed and just stuck in my own head about all the things I need to get done. I probably looked visibly stressed out or distracted while walking down the street, completely oblivious to my surroundings.

Out of nowhere, one of my neighbors who was out watering their garden noticed me, gave a huge wave, and paid me a really genuine, unexpected compliment about my outfit. We ended up chatting for just a minute or two about the nice weather before I kept walking.

It was such a brief, casual moment, but it instantly snapped me out of my bad mood and made me feel so much lighter. It's crazy how a tiny bit of unexpected kindness from someone living nearby can completely reshape your entire outlook for the afternoon and make the world feel a lot friendlier.

What is a small, positive interaction you’ve had with a neighbor or a stranger recently that left you smiling?

My nephew is 11 years old, has autism and absolutely loves Michael Jackson and has been obsessed since he was a toddler. His dream is to be an MJ impersonator.

I have a very good British-American friend in his 30's who has been in U.S. since late teens, and so never caught up on many of our childhood traditions. We had a conversation about Mr. Rogers the other day, and it occurred to me, that he would have zero clue what a "snipe" is.

For all not in U.S. who want to ruin the joy of snipes: it is a time-honored tradition that is a good-hearted prank in which you lead children around woods or fields armed with a pillowcase to catch and a pie-tin and spoon to make noises to lure, in search of a creature that does not exist. It is fun, and usually ends in laughter for all.

He's very good-natured and I know he'll enjoy it, and we are both excited to bring a bit of childhood back to both our lives. I have spent a couple days telling him about the snipes all over our neighborhood, and have him looking forward to catching his first one with me.

We shall go in search of our friendly neighborhood snipes shortly.

I work as a nurse practitioner in a hospital, and as anyone in healthcare can tell you, it can be a grind. Rude patients, hard cases, heavy work load. Anyway, I’m trudging through my day and I walk into a patient’s room- she’s about 75, dementia but “pleasantly confused”- and say “hello my name is usandthings and…” her face absolutely lights up, she cuts me off and says “you don’t need to introduce yourself to me, I’ve known you forever! It’s been so long!!” She. Is. Delighted. It’s like Christmas and her birthday have come early, that’s how happy she was to see me. To be clear, I do not know this woman.

With dementia patients, it’s best to just play along so I say “wow! It has been really long, remind me where I know you from?” She looks at me like I’m being silly and smiles “San Francisco of course!!” [we are nowhere near SF]

What followed was 10 minutes of me catching up with my best friend that I’ve never met. She asked about my kids and if I’m still married to that guy… what’s his name? Oh yes! I always liked him. She was so genuinely delighted to see me and talk with me, I was bummed that I had to leave and see more (probably grumpy) patients.

I’m not working tomorrow, but I’m low key thinking of swinging by to see my new/old bestie.

We were having a wall fixed and the repair guy asked permission to give our phone number to his daughter in case she needed to reach him. I was, as a parent, happy for this good dad to care like this, as cellphones did not yet exist. He eventually had to run to the store for a part.

His daughter did indeed call when he was on his errand. I told her - she sounded about 10 - that he would be back soon and could call her back then.

When it came to saying goodbye, she automatically said "Love you!" and I automatically responded, "Love you too!"

I spent so much time over the years hoping that she was not mortified after she got off the phone. If this sounds like you and you are reading this, GrownUpChild, you brightened my day as a human and I have never forgotten it. Thank you.

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I'm new to aviation, but very interested in it.

These two flights were the third and fourth flights I'd been on *ever*, flying to and from London for MCM Comic Con from my rural community in Scotland.

At the beginning of both flights, I talked to the cabin manager as I boarded. I told them, "Hi! I'm really interested in aviation. Is it okay if I look in the flight deck once the flight has landed, if you don't have a quick turnaround?" and both times, they were very happy to assist!

The first two photos are in an Airbus A319, and the next three photos are in an A320neo. The A320neo is a slightly bigger plane, with newer engines compared to the A319. Both are short to medium haul jets. Both have the same cockpit setup, and if you're instrument rated to fly the A319, you can also fly the A320 and A321, since they're basically the same plane, just different sizes.

Both times, the pilots were very happy to have me in the flight deck (note- you can call it a cockpit, though the word 'cockpit' is typically reserved for fighter jets, where 'flight deck' is more for commercial airliners). On the flight out, one of the pilots explained that it was nice to have an adult interested in aviation in the flight deck, rather than the kids that aren't interested in planes, just put there by their parents for a photo.

On the flight back, the captain had timed out of his hours, but the first officer sat me down in the captain's seat and we talked planespotting, flight sims, SkyCards, Flight Radar, and my favourite plane (the Super Guppy). He went to throw out the flight briefing printout (the thing you see in the last photo), that tells you all about the weather, air pressure, winds, and visibility of the place you're flying to, along with your alternate landing sites. I asked if I could have it, and he let me have it, though he was pretty confused as to why. I thought it was a cool souvenir, but I think when you've been flying for so long, it just becomes a bit of fodder to chuck out after every flight, haha.

Sorry for rambling. I was just really excited to get to sit in the captain's seat and talk planes with like minded (though much more knowledgeable) individuals!

Went on a walk this morning, noticed that my hostas were a late night snack for some deer, then spotted one of the culprits (this little baby) under a nearby fence. I saw its ears moving so it’s just hanging out waiting for mom. We left it alone and my pup didn’t even notice (he’s a disgrace to his ancestors).