Songs Other Than “Happy Birthday” to Teach Your Kids to Sing While They Wash Their Hands

The coronavirus, aka COVID-19, is or will soon be at your doorstep. And while this new virus is scary for so many people (rightfully so), the truth is that everyone could use a little refresher now and then on how important it is to wash your hands properly – and for long enough – as often as necessary.

Now, the CDC and WHO have important work to do, so they’re only giving you one song option to easily count down your 20 seconds of washing time – Happy Birthday twice – but luckily, there are people all over the internet ready and willing to give you more options.

Below are 5 alternatives hand-picked for the kids in the house!

5. Mary Had a Little Lamb

Your kid probably already knows this one, it’s harmless, and hey, you only have to sing the first verse to use up your 20 seconds.

4. If You’re Happy and You Know It

Change “clap your hands” to “wash your hands” and voila! 20 seconds has passed and your kid has spent it following directions. Will miracles never cease?!

3. Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Another lyric tweak and you’ve got “wash, wash, wash your hands as well as you can!” so this takes the recommended 20 seconds and reminds your toddler what they’re supposed to be doing at the same time.

2. The Alphabet Song

This is a favorite in our house, and honestly, it usually takes more than 20 seconds (unless someone has something they’d really rather be doing).

1. The Germs Song

This one probably isn’t as easy or familiar, but it is instructive! The Kiboomers use three verses to get into the nitty-gritty gross stuff that’s stuck to your hands before you wash them, and any one of them is long enough to get you to your goal.

If your toddler is like mine, you might have to ask them to sing the song twice because they do it so fast, but there you go!

What are you singing while you wash your hands these days? We’re dying to know!

The post Songs Other Than “Happy Birthday” to Teach Your Kids to Sing While They Wash Their Hands appeared first on UberFacts.

A Stay-At-Home Mom’s Emotional Post Reminds Us That We Still Need a Village

The world is always changing. A lot a lot. Human beings used to live in villages, and when women had children, everyone helped – with the birth, caring for mom and baby and other kids postpartum, and yeah, if one mom needed a day to breathe, there were women who would take her brood for the day, no questions asked.

One day, she would do it for them.

Now? We’re isolated. I didn’t realize how much that was true until I became a mom that stays home with her children, either, but the truth is, parenting young children can be extremely lonely.

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This is what being a new mom looks like without filters, without Facetune, without presets… . I wake up every hour and half to nurse my newborn… . My older children are desperate for my attention…. . I’m having a hell of a hot flash while I type this. . I’m in the thick of a battle with postpartum depression… . I’m praying my 2 year old naps for just 20 minutes longer so I can finish an episode of @goodgirlsfeed . I desperately want a glass of wine, but it’s 2:59pm snd I still have a million hours before the kids go to bed. . I’m exhausted. . But I would live this reality on repeat because I live for the sounds of my babies voices filling our home with their laughter, their cries, their arguments, their babble… . Sometimes I don’t know how I put one foot in front of the other because honesty, I’m having a hard time adjusting to life with 3 kids, but I’m so thankful that God has chosen me to walk this path as the mama of these blessed girls ❤ . If any of this resonated with you, I see you mama. I feel you. I will pray for you. And I BELIEVE IN YOU. Motherhood, real motherhood, isn’t filtered. It’s raw and messy and hard and so beautiful. Let yourself feel it all ❤

A post shared by Gabby Farrington (@the_mrsfarrington) on

If you’re lucky (I am), you have parents and other family nearby and a partner that’s supportive. Friends who are in the same stage of life as you and who live near enough to help out.

Even so, it’s hard. No one warns you about how hard it will be, and worse, everyone assumes that “staying home with your kids” is the best possible life, leaving the women who do it and struggle feeling like they’re not allowed to speak up when they’re miserable.

Which is kind of exactly what mom Bridgette Anne was feeling when she posted a raw, heartbreaking post about how not-okay she is after taking on the role for the first time.

☝ everyone thinks being a stay at home mom full time is easy.— that we are lucky to be able to not have to work.—…

Posted by Bridgette Anne on Thursday, January 30, 2020

You can’t do anything by yourself; go to the bathroom, enjoy a cup of coffee, read, hell you can’t even scrub the shit out of pants for the 3rd time in a day without someone crying or screaming at your leg.

You don’t get breaks unless they are sleeping; which even then you use that time to clean up

You struggle to come up with ways to entertain someone for literally 12 hours a day every day.

You wear the same clothes that smell like sweat and tears for days at a time because it’s already stained and no use in ruining more clothes.

You forget what it means or feels like to be an individual; because your entire existence now revolves around that child.

You look at working moms and get jealous because you wish you could have an excuse to have an adult conversation without being interrupted.

You lock yourself in the bathroom and scream into a towel while crying because you need a second to breathe; all while a child is banging on the door to get in…

I was one of those people who judged SAHM’s. But I get it now. The people who said they’d be there to help have all but disappeared, and you’re left with this overwhelming sense of failure.

My house isn’t clean, I’m not clean, the dishes aren’t done, I have screamed already today, I have cried, and I have felt so damn guilty that my child was here to witness it.

But I am alone….and I am lonely

People were quick to rally around Bridgette online, offering words of support and encouragement, but I wish there were more and easier ways for SAHMs to connect in real life. To be there for each other, to take each other’s kids for an afternoon, to meet at the part so you can have some coffee and conversation that doesn’t include constant requests for water and peeled fruit.

Being a SAHM is wonderful, but it’s also very, very hard. And until we can come to terms with the fact that both of those things can be true at the same time, moms everywhere are still going to struggle.

That’s not good for anyone, y’all, so please. Be kind, reach out, listen, be supportive. We can still be a village, but we have to try a lot harder to make it work.

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15 Funny ‘Karen’ Memes to Speak to Your Manager About

I feel kind of bad for anyone named Karen right now. Especially if they’re middle aged.

Surely not all Karens are a pain, but the name has come to represent the speak-to-the-manager, anti-vaxxer, essential-oil-facebook-evangelist archetype nonetheless.

Yes, the internet is running wild with Karen memes right now, and here are some of the best:

15. How dare you!

Via the chive

14. We all float…

Via the chive

13. The Karen cannot be appeased

Via the chive

12. A Karen-proof fence

Via the chive

11. She’s gone too far

Via the chive

10. Selective hearing

Via the chive

9. Dead giveaway

Via the chive

8. They will rebuild

Via the chive

7. God himself fears Karen

Via the chive

6. Not today, disease

Via the chive

5. I knew it

Via the chive

4. When your American pride is even bigger than your hair

Via the chive

3. Even the doggos, Karen?

Via the chive

2. “FEUIAFHVLEAUFGUU!”

Via the chive

1. Don’t worry, Karen’s got this

Via the chive

What’s your favorite Karen story? And by “favorite” we mean the time when a Karen acted her absolute worst.

Tell us in the comments!

The post 15 Funny ‘Karen’ Memes to Speak to Your Manager About appeared first on UberFacts.

Baby Care Instructions From 1968 Show Just How Much Things Have Changed Since Then

Women continue to learn more about how our bodies work and how science can improve the way we care for tiny human beings. And let’s not forget that there have been some very real developments in the world, like cars that require safety seats, that have irrevocably altered child-rearing.

There’s nothing that illustrates that point quite like taking a look back at how we used to advise moms to care for wee ones, and this list of instructions from 1968 does a great job of showing how different things are today.

The advice here was for the care of your newborn while still in the hospital after birth.

Yeah, most of this is pretty insane, but I really wish someone would have at least considered my nipples.

My mom was going through her things and we saw this, it's rules in regards to just having a baby. It gave me a chuckle….

Posted by Micala Gabrielle Henson on Friday, March 29, 2019

I am not a fan of them not being able to see their babies whenever they want. However, again, I could have done with more sleep and actual recovery time.

Also, real question… how long did it take these women’s milk to come in on this schedule?!?

I assume, unlike many others did not, that the baby was not starving the rest of the time, but simply being bottle fed, since they mention bottles and formula.

Image Credit: Facebook

The list of foods you’re not allowed to eat is very curious. Like…were that many people scarfing green coconut cake on the regular?

And don’t even get me started on the smoking.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Overall, obviously this advice never killed any of us born during that timeframe, and seriously, hospitals could be a lot more mom-focused now, instead of wringing out new mothers to the point that they can hardly function by the time they’re sent home.

But I suppose that’s a soapbox for another day…

The post Baby Care Instructions From 1968 Show Just How Much Things Have Changed Since Then appeared first on UberFacts.

Baby Care Instructions From 1968 Show Just How Much Things Have Changed Since Then

Women continue to learn more about how our bodies work and how science can improve the way we care for tiny human beings. And let’s not forget that there have been some very real developments in the world, like cars that require safety seats, that have irrevocably altered child-rearing.

There’s nothing that illustrates that point quite like taking a look back at how we used to advise moms to care for wee ones, and this list of instructions from 1968 does a great job of showing how different things are today.

The advice here was for the care of your newborn while still in the hospital after birth.

Yeah, most of this is pretty insane, but I really wish someone would have at least considered my nipples.

My mom was going through her things and we saw this, it's rules in regards to just having a baby. It gave me a chuckle….

Posted by Micala Gabrielle Henson on Friday, March 29, 2019

I am not a fan of them not being able to see their babies whenever they want. However, again, I could have done with more sleep and actual recovery time.

Also, real question… how long did it take these women’s milk to come in on this schedule?!?

I assume, unlike many others did not, that the baby was not starving the rest of the time, but simply being bottle fed, since they mention bottles and formula.

Image Credit: Facebook

The list of foods you’re not allowed to eat is very curious. Like…were that many people scarfing green coconut cake on the regular?

And don’t even get me started on the smoking.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Overall, obviously this advice never killed any of us born during that timeframe, and seriously, hospitals could be a lot more mom-focused now, instead of wringing out new mothers to the point that they can hardly function by the time they’re sent home.

But I suppose that’s a soapbox for another day…

The post Baby Care Instructions From 1968 Show Just How Much Things Have Changed Since Then appeared first on UberFacts.

The Truth About Your “Washed and Ready-To-Eat” Vegetables

Between our work schedules, family obligations, keeping the house in some semblance of order, putting food on the table three times a day, running kids to school and activities, there just isn’t a ton of time to spare.

Especially if we also want to keep up with what everyone else is somehow finding the time to watch on Netflix.

So when someone offers us a shortcut, like produce that’s been washed and dried and is clean and ready-to-eat, we’re more than a little tempted to fork over the extra cash in exchange for the convenience.

Today ran some tests on those “ready-to-eat” vegetables and compared them to similar results on regular (less expensive) options and found that there’s a considerable amount of bacteria on the produce, regardless of the price tag.

In fact, they found that the produce that claims to have been washed contained more bacteria spores, in most cases.

Glen Pinna from Biotech Laboratories compared ready-to-eat lettuce with pieces of fresh lettuce, and broccoli with the already cut and washed florets.

The “washed” lettuce contained 9.5 million microbes per gram, compared with 470,000 microbes per gram on the loose lettuce, and the cut and washed florets contained 850,000 microbes per gram compared to around 280,000 on the unwashed heads.

Pinna went on to explain his thoughts on the findings:

“The conditions they’re creating is really promoting the growth of bacteria.

Anything that you’re chopping up and putting into a bag and sealing and not holding under five degrees, those bugs are going to increase.”

He advises buying fresh produce, and when it comes to green leafy vegetables, definitely giving them a wash yourself in order to reduce the number of microbes that could not only potentially cause illness, but cause the food to spoil.

Surprisingly, when it comes to fresh fruit, he said tests show that washing them does essentially nothing to decrease microbes – no word on how it affects pesticides, though, so my berries are still getting a dunking.

Does this surprise you? It does me, a little bit, but I’m certainly glad for the knowledge.

As one of the aforementioned busy parents, if I can’t save time, I’m most definitely up for saving money!

The post The Truth About Your “Washed and Ready-To-Eat” Vegetables appeared first on UberFacts.

Successful People Do These 9 Things to Boost Their Energy in the Afternoon

Are you at your best only up until about lunchtime? You definitely have company. Many people report feeling a major slump in their productivity in the afternoons. Losing your momentum may stem from sitting in front of a computer for half the day, what you ate for lunch or interrupted sleep from the night before…or a combination, plus any number of other factors.

Michael Kerr, an international business speaker and author of “You Can’t Be Serious! Putting Humor to Work,” says our dip in energy is also a part of our natural circadian rhythm.

Whatever causes your lack of motivation after you get back from lunch, you still need to be productive. So, what can you do to wake yourself up and get back your drive?

1. Plan your meetings in the afternoon.

Don’t waste your precious morning energy by getting sucked into a meeting.

Meetings in the afternoon allow you to interact with people and that can help you get some pep back.

Photo Credit: Pxfuel

2. Get out of the office.

Take a break when you feel yourself nodding off.

Going outside in the sunlight and fresh air helps relieve eye strain, get your blood flowing and will reset your internal clock.

Photo Credit: Piqsels

3. Grab a coffee.

A mid-afternoon cup of coffee will increase your alertness, as does the physical act of walking to get the coffee and saying hello to people along the way.

Getting a green tea or a water for yourself work too.

Photo Credit: Libreshot

4. Take a power nap.

Not easily accomplished in your cubicle, but if you happen to find the opportunity to close your eyes for a 15-minute nap, you’ll likely wake feeling more creative.

Worth a mention to the boss at any rate.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

5. Exercise.

Like napping, this may be a viable option for people who work from home.

However, if you can squeeze in an afternoon workout, you’ll be rewarded with a boost of motivation.

Photo Credit: Pxhere

6. Drink water.

Kerr says dehydration leads to energy slumps.

He suggests keeping a tall, glass of water in reach.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

7. Record your gratitude.

Countless benefits come from acknowledging all the things in life for which to be grateful.

Kerr suggests starting an afternoon ritual of journaling three of them.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

8. Change up your routine.

Move your workspace from your desk to the conference room, or to your kitchen.

Change your usual meeting location. It all works to rev your brain.

Photo Credit: Pikrepo

9. Be a social butterfly for a few minutes.

Add a goal to connect with someone in your office for a few minutes in the afternoon.

It will be a chance for a break from your workspace and it’ll strengthen the relationships you have with your coworkers.

Photo Credit: Pxhere

The great thing about using these strategies to get out of a midday energy slump is most of them serve more than one purpose. Not only will they wake you up, they’ll keep you healthier, help you bond with co-workers and make you more productive. Your boss will probably notice your increased energy and output too.

Lots of wins there!

The post Successful People Do These 9 Things to Boost Their Energy in the Afternoon appeared first on UberFacts.

People Share the Stupidest Ways They’ve Injured Themselves

We’ve all injured ourselves in pretty dumb ways at one point or another in our lives. Okay, it’s confession time: when I was 12, I broke my hand…punching my brother in the head. Let’s just say my parents were not thrilled.

I still haven’t lived that one down.

AskReddit users opened up and shared the dumbest ways they’ve ever been injured.

1. The grape incident.

“Threw a grape in the air to catch it in my mouth.

It fell on the floor and I bent down to pick it up and smashed my face into the window sill.”

2. Shower disaster.

“Showering at a hotel in a small stall with a slippery tile floor. Bent over to wash my feet, my butt hit the tap handle. I slipped, put my hands out to save myself and violently slammed the glass shower door open. I bashed my forehead and bridge of nose on the tile floor, had a major nose bleed and a giant goose egg on my forehead.

I don’t have bangs to cover that up. I thought I had escaped without the black eyes I expected after bashing my nose, but 2 days later I woke up with deep purple swollen eyelids. Luckily I had packed my seldom used makeup to cover the worst of it and I wore a hat in the day time. I’m still shocked the shower door didn’t shatter when it hit the wall.”

3. Ouch! That’s not good.

“I was in the 4th or 5th grade but I jumped down an entire flight of stairs.

Landed hard and hurt my foot. Walked on it for a day or two afterwards turned out I shattered my heel and broke my ankle.”

4. That is brutal.

“Tripped over a storage ottoman trying to jump over it all slick.

Got my toes wedged in the latch and broke my foot in 2 places.”

5. Time to tape the toes together.

“I live in Minnesota so I am used to kicking snow off my boots by slamming my toe part of the boot down on the ground.

Well, it was summer and I happened to get my running shoes absolutely covered in mud, so I instinctively slammed my toes down on the pavement and broke my toes.”

6. Right into the shin.

“Stabbed myself in the leg with a piece of metal.

It was really thin and tapered at the tip so when you swung it you would hear this really cool “Whoosh” sound.

I swung down way to hard and it went right into my shin. Bad times.”

7. That is odd.

“I got out of a long, hot shower and noticed a thread dangling off of my shirt, and when I tried to pull it out it just neatly sliced through several millimeters of my finger.

It was so minor I can hardly even call it an injury, but getting cut by a shirt is definitely the stupidest I’ve had.”

8. Funny but painful.

“Was helping husband replace the bathroom fan, so I was standing on the side of the bathtub.

I had this plastic hook glued to the shower wall to hang a loofa on. I went to get down and slid down the wall and hooked my butt cheek to the wall.

It hurt so bad but was also hilarious. I’m in my 40s and this happened recently.”

9. Getting old is no fun.

“I dropped something behind my couch, leaned over the back to pick it up and cracked a rib.

Was in pain for a week. Getting old is hell.”

10. Could’ve been worse.

“To try to get a cheap laugh out of my ex, I threw a hammer as hard as I could at a tree.

The hammer bounced off the tree, and I turned just in time for it to hit me in the small of my back.

Miracle I’m not paralyzed.”

11. An epic tale.

“When I was a kid, maybe 10 or so, I had recently discovered that the feet on my prosthetics could be unscrewed and moved into different positions, so I “borrowed” and Allen key from my dad and took it to school so I could unscrew my feet and show my friends at recess…non of them were as blown away by this as I’d hoped, pretty sure they were just used to this kind of thing by now haha.

Anyway, the bell went to tell us to go back to class and I very quickly tightened the feet back onto the prosthetics, put my shoes back on and started making my way back to class. As I was walking with a group of my classmates I started to notice my legs felt wobbly. I looked down and with every step my feet were turning outwards slightly. A normal person would have come to the conclusion “oh, I didn’t tighten the screws up enough”.

But not me, I jumped to the conclusion of “HOLY SHIT I CAN CONTROL MY FEET LIKE A ROBOT”. My excitement quickly turned to dread when I realised I don’t know how to control feet (been an amputee since I was a baby) and they kept turning until one was pointing sideways. Despite this I kept trying to walk and after a few more steps the foot just fell off and I managed to slam the now footless prosthetic down, which jarred my knee and hips and caused me to slip over and face plant into the corner of a cement mini wall (one of those waist high walls).

Being a self respecting 10yo I started bawling my eyes out, which caught the attention of the new teacher. It’s her first day and the only disabled student is in pieces, (the foot got thrown backwards when it fell off) with a bloodied nose, screaming like a banshee. She didn’t really know what to do since I couldn’t get back up, so she gave me some tissues for my nose and made a very confused call to the maintenance man asking if he knows how to fix prosthetics so I can get to the school nurse.”

12. That is messed up.

“Walked onto a manhole cover that was not placed on correctly.

Ended up in the hospital and had to to have 3 surgeries over 4 months.”

13. Not a good idea.

“My friend saw a jellyfish on the beach then kicked it. Like on purpose and knowing what it was.

They had to go to the ER.”

14. Watch out!

“Riding my bike home in 5th grade slowly alongside my walking friends.

Friend : Drew look where you’re going

Drew : naw dude I’m good at biking I can do it with my eyes closed

Friend : no really dude, look out

Drew : naw man, I’m good

Instantly crashes into a parked car, mess up my bike chain, have to drag my bike home in shame and explain to my mom why my knee and lip are bleeding.”

15. Walking from now on.

“Thought I could walk my dog on a leash while riding my bike. Dog saw a squirrel and yanked me off my bike. I broke a few bones in my hand.

Doc was like “what did you expect would happen?” “

16. Undone by a paper bag.

“Bending over to pick up a paper bag. A completely empty paper grocery store bag. It was standing upright, not even laying on the floor. I barely had to even bend down to pick it up.

Somehow this triggered a cosmic alignment between two vertebrae and nerve cluster because suddenly I fell to the floor in crippling pain, could not get my back straight and had to crawl to the living room so I could lay on the carpeted floor and try to stretch it out. I ended up fucked up like this for days and had to have physical therapy to slowly work out the pinched nerve. I was basically walking like Quasimodo for a couple weeks.

People would assume I was in an accident or lifting some boulder like Hercules or saving a child pinned under a car. But nope. I was undone by an empty paper bag.”

17. This person is definitely accident-prone.

“Wow, so many options.

Most recent. Working under my truck on a slight slope while on a creeper. Grabbed the undercarriage and yanked hard to slide to the back, forgot about slope and used excessive force. I probably would have wound up in the street, had all 250lbs of me not been decelerated by the top of my head hitting the differential. Woke up and it was darker and my neck was sore. I also had a horn like a unicorn (big lump). 2 weeks on concussion watch and wearing a hat to conceal the lump.

Most memorable. 8yo me finds a weird blue light bulb in the creek. Has what looks like mica inclusions in the glass and steel wool instead of a filament. 8yo me goes into the closet with a 9v battery and 2 wires to find out what it looks like lit. I hold it between index and middle finger and apply the wires. Eureka! Like a flash I realize. It’s a flash bulb. I am now blind, in a closet, 2 fingers melted to a hot flash bulb. Keystone Kops antics ensue.

Strangest. Talking to my sister on the landline in the kitchen. I have raccoon hands, always touching things, picking things up, etc while talking. At one point I wind up with a peanut butter cookie and an open flame. Even I don’t know how I got there, lol. Peanut butter cookie winds up on fire. I try to throw it into the sink, miss badly, cookie breaks up and flaming pieces fall on my bare feet. I learn there are a LOT of nerve endings on top of my feet. Screaming somehow communicates problem to sister, who I can hear laughing on the dropped handset.

Bonus. Forgot the cookie lesson regarding nerve endings. Barbecuing in a Weber kettle. In flip flops. I spread out the pile of briquettes once they were ready. Bottom vents were open and hot embers fell on my feet. Poured beer on my feet and increased the vocabulary of nearby children.”

18. Please don’t ever do that again.

“I was separating my eyelashes (because mascara) with a safety pin.

Stabbed myself in the eyeball.”

Wow. Those are pretty…dumb.

How about you? What’s the stupidest way you’ve ever injured yourself?

Don’t be shy! Tell us in the comments!

The post People Share the Stupidest Ways They’ve Injured Themselves appeared first on UberFacts.