People are losing it over 'first-time mom' cats and their questionable maternal instincts

"Do the 9 lives start before or after parenting?" 😸

One thing you discover when you become a parent is that no parent is perfect. From the start, we are flying by the seat of our pants trying to figure out how to best care for the wee one in our care, and as the oh-so-true cliche goes, they don't come with a manual.

Apparently, the same is true for cats. A compilation of cat moms, purportedly on their first time around as mothers, is making the rounds, partly because it's hilarious and partly because it's painfully relatable. While we humans don't tend to suddenly thwap our babies for no apparent reason, we do accidentally hurt them, blame the wrong kid for a misdeed, overreact, and more on occasion. I mean, I never inadvertently dropped my baby into a garbage can, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that some mom has at some point.

Thankfully, like kids, kittens are resilient and these moms and their questionable maternal instincts had people cackling. Naturally, the comments are gold:

"Call cps cat protective services."

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Divorced couple's unconventional co-parenting solution hailed as 'selfless'

"Working through an amicable divorce means thinking outside the box."

For parents going through divorce, the number one challenge is often figuring out how to not disrupt life for the kids. More and more coparenting couples are discovering that making children bounce back and forth between different living arrangements doesn’t have to be the path taken if it doesn’t actually work for the family. In fact, there are many different ways to go about it.

For Susan Fowler and her ex-husband Josh Fowler, losing their family home (and the consistency provided for their five kids) didn’t feel like an option. So, in an effort to “think outside the box,” they decided to keep the home, and simply take turns living in it.

“It was scary at first, figuring out the logistics, each finding a room to rent,” Susan explained in a TikTok clip, “But it was also way cheaper than two houses big enough for 6 people.”

She was ready to stand on business. 😮

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☀️ Toddler who can barely talk, drums and sings 'Pocketful of Sunshine' with stunning precision

People are calling him a musical prodigy.

Most people can learn most things if they really put their minds to it, but there's no question some humans are born with innate abilities that defy expectations and explanation. We call those people prodigies, and while toddlerhood might be too early to definitively use that label, a tiny tot with a stick, a shovel, and a song in his heart has people tossing around the term. When you see the video of little Remi performing Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocketful of Sunshine," you'll see why.

Toddlers often "sing" along to songs, but rarely do they sing with anything close to perfect pitch and even more rarely do they keep perfect time. Not only does Remi do both, but he keeps separate rhythms with each hand—plastic sandbox shovel in one, stick in the other—all while singing gibberish lyrics to the identifiable tune.

Not a discernible word uttered, yet so very impressive. People had thoughts:

"He’s singing in Simlish lmao so cute 😭 also more talent than me"

Economics expert pinpoints the exact moment in 2012 when 'America went to hell'

Geography was more important than we thought.

America has never been a perfect place, but since the Civil War, it has been one where most people bought into the idea of the country and supported the institutions that keep it running. People may disagree on politics and culture, but when America was threatened, whether it was 9/11 or World War II, people came together to fight for the country they love, even though the reasons may have differed.

However, it’d be naive to say that sentiment is still as strong as it once was. Since The Great Recession, many people have felt that the vibes are off in America, and polls and research back those feelings. Right around 2012, when smartphones became ubiquitous, there was a considerable rise in the number of people who felt that America was on the wrong track and that racism and sexism were considerably worse than they were just a year before. There was also a big spike in mental illness.

So what happened in 2012? Did the world suddenly become drastically worse overnight, or had our perceptions been changed?