Tag: care

There’s nothing wrong with trying to be healthy, but what if the steps you’re taking aren’t doing anything? Some of today’s most popular health trends may not be worth it after all.

Forming a new habit can be difficult, especially when it’s one related to your health and wellness. No matter what you do, there’s no denying that junk food is still delicious despite how much we hear about its crappy ingredients, and that exercise still takes time and energy we don’t want to spend no matter how satisfying it can feel. However, there are few things that can make us feel more proud of ourselves than taking consistent steps toward better health—but are we really, though?

Whether a longstanding recommendation or a new trend that’s sweeping offices and gyms across the world, there are many health-related things we encounter every day that, as it turns out, really aren’t worth all the hype.

Eating Healthier

We can hear you screaming at your computer screen now, wondering out loud how we could dare say that putting a piece of kale in your mouth is somehow wrong. We promise we’re not saying that exactly, but hear us out on this one.

It’s a goal of pretty much every human being out there to eat healthier on a daily basis, regardless of what “healthier” happens to mean to them—for some people it’s becoming a vegan, while others just make the switch from drinking five sodas a day to only three.

At some point, however, making the switch to eating healthier can take a dangerous and very much unhealthy turn. An obsessive desire to eat only foods that are healthy is known as orthorexia nervosa, a condition that has been categorized as an eating disorder right alongside things like bulimia and anorexia nervosa.

Those who have it might spend 30 minutes figuring out what to order at a restaurant, only to eat nothing because they couldn’t verify that every ingredient used was organic. Or maybe it’s that they don’t take a handful of almonds because they weren’t first soaked overnight before being served.

Left untreated long enough, the condition can eventually cause nutritional deficiencies that can lead to even more serious health problems. Unfortunately, it’s a disorder that’s only becoming more common and sometimes even validated—some people are of the opinion that starving yourself to be thin is bad, but not eating because you don’t know the name of the cow your burger came from is somehow the picture of health. Do yourself a favor and don’t go overboard.

Using Fitness Trackers

By now, you might think that we’re just trying to take away everything you love—first your healthy diet and now your beloved Fitbit. Again, we’re not saying anything is inherently wrong with trying to keep track of your steps or fitness levels, but there are some unexpected downsides.

First of all, if you’ve been using your tracker to keep tabs on things like your heart rate, you should know that they have a tendency to be inaccurate. One study showed that they can calculate your heart rate incorrectly by up to 20 beats each minute, and that the miscalculation got even worse the harder someone exercised, which is probably when most people who use the feature care about it most.

For someone who absolutely needs to know their heart rate during exercise because of a heart condition, this kind of inaccuracy can also just be plain dangerous.

Not only that but, while studies do show that fitness trackers can help people exercise more, it often does so in a way that’s similar to a parent telling their child they can only have dessert after eating their carrots. Fitness trackers can eventually make exercise feel like even more of a chore than it sometimes does, and they might not even really help you get or stay fit!

One study kept track of 470 teenagers as they followed an exercise regimen and lower-calorie diet. Half of them kept track of their exercise on their own, while the other half used fitness trackers to get the job done for them. Believe it or not, the group that did it by hand actually lost more weight.

Flossing

Be prepared to run into your dentist’s office to gloat, because it’s been determined there is no scientific evidence that flossing is as great as they say it is. Go ahead, let all the times they judged you for your bleeding gums just roll right off your back.

Despite evidence that suggests flossing can help with plaque, cavities, and gum disease, that evidence is also considered to be “very unreliable,” “weak,” and “very low,” as well as being open to, “a moderate to large potential for bias.”

You probably won’t be surprised to hear that most studies that tout the benefits of flossing are often funded by floss-making companies, and they’re not even that thorough—one apparently made its pro-flossing conclusions after its subjects flossed just a single time.

Cutting Out Salt

We’ve all heard before that Americans eat way too much salt—in fact, according to the American Heart Association, the average person consumes around 3.4 grams of it day, when the recommended limit is a mere 1.5 grams.

There’s no doubt that most people could stand to cut some of their daily salt intake out of their diets—after all, too much can increase your risk for things like high blood pressure and heart disease—but cutting out some doesn’t mean cutting out all.

Believe it or not, your body does actually need salt, and research shows that the recommendation from the American Heart Association may actually be too low. One study monitored around 100,000 people and paid special attention to the amount of salt they consumed—the group who ended up being least likely to suffer from heart problems was the group that consumed between three and six grams of sodium each day.

Additionally, another study done in 2011 found that participants with high blood pressure were more likely to have a heart attack or stroke when they consumed over seven grams of salt each day, but also when they consumed less than three grams. When you consider the American Heart Association’s recommendation of 1.5 grams, it seems that it could put people at risk more than it helps.

Working at Standing Desks

It’s one of the latest trends in innovative offices everywhere: a desk that requires you to stand so you’re forced off your butt during the day. It makes sense—you can avoid slouching over, pinching your nerves all day, and just generally feeling like a lazy blob by making sure you’re keeping yourself somewhat active during the work day.

However, standing while at work isn’t enough to negate all of the things you choose to do outside of the office.

Scientists went over health data for around 5,000 people from the past 15 years, and they found that sitting doesn’t play as big of a role in our health as we think. It’s being stationary in general that isn’t good for us, and it doesn’t matter where we do it.

Basically, if you think that standing during works means you’ve essentially worked out during the day and can veg out in front of the TV all night when you get home, you’ve got another think coming. We’re not saying that your standing desk is totally useless, but you still need to get in an actual workout every now and then, too.

Taking Vitamins

Many people start their day off with a multivitamin as way for them to guarantee that they’re getting all the nutrients they need no matter what they eat. However, what most people might not know is that certain vitamins can build up in our bodies and lead to a number of issues.

When it comes to vitamins and nutrients, there are two main categories-water soluble and fat soluble. It’s actually good to consume water-soluble nutrients like vitamin C and vitamin B12 daily because your body will just excrete the extra in your urine.

However, fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin A and vitamin E can actually build up within your body’s fat cells and lead to vitamin toxicity. That does sound more severe than it can be—for most nutrients, an “overdose” won’t cause many noticeable symptoms, but can increase your risk for certain conditions over time.

That said, it’s still recommended that you try to get all of your nutrients from real food, and take supplements only for things you truly need more of.

It is terrifying how many potentially disastrous products you have underneath your kitchen sink right now.

1. Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide

There are some nice cleaning hacks out there that call for a quick scrub with white or apple cider vinegar followed by a spritzing of hydrogen peroxide. Those actually work. They’re great for disinfecting sensitive surfaces like cutting boards and even fruits and vegetables.

Whatever you do, though, don’t try to speed things up by mixing both household products together in a single container. When combined, vinegar and hydrogen peroxide form the very corrosive peracetic acid. It’s not the kind of acid that will eat through multiple decks of your space ship, but it can cause plenty of damage without getting into Alien territory.

That stuff won’t stop at just disinfecting your kitchen counter. It’ll also irritate your skin, eyes, and lungs. Too much can cause permanent lung damage. By all means, harness the disinfectant power of hydrogen peroxide and vinegar in combination. Just always keep them in separate containers.

2. Bleach and Ammonia

This may be the highest-profile of all the cleaning no-nos, but people still manage to kill themselves by mixing these ingredients together. It bears repeating: Never mix ammonia and bleach together, not even if your toilet looks like a Jackson Pollock.

The mixture reacts to produce chloramine gas, which is highly toxic. Also, it’s gas. That’s not something you want to go around inhaling.

3. Vinegar and Bleach

If you take anything away from this article, let it be this: Just don’t mix bleach with anything, except maybe water.

4. Bleach and Rubbing Alcohol

We weren’t kidding. Bleach doesn’t play well with others.
Mix bleach and rubbing alcohol together and you’ll end up with a big pool of chloroform, which can wreak havoc on your nervous system. It will also irritate any part of you it comes in contact with.

5. Multiple Brands of Batteries

When just one of the batteries in your remote control goes dead, it’s tempting to grab the nearest AAA and get back to watching the tube. Don’t give in if you have multiple battery brands lying around the house.

6. Different Brands of Drain Cleaners

Say you’ve got a clogged drain and just a bit of one type of drain cleaner and a full bottle of another. The last thing you want to do is blend them.

A drain cleaner is strong stuff. It has to be to dissolve all the gunk that accumulates in drains and eventually causes a clog.
Carolyn Forte is the director of the Cleaning Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute, and she told the magazine Good Housekeeping that mixing multiple brands of drain cleaners is a terrible mistake.
“I would never recommend mixing two different drain cleaners or even using one right after the other,” she said (their emphasis). “These are powerful formulas, and could even explode if combined.”

7. Milk and Red Bull

Unfortunately, this mixture is most likely to happen in your stomach. We can’t think of a reason to mix Red Bull and milk anywhere else.

If you’ve just enjoyed a nice, frosty glass of milk and you start to get sleepy, don’t reach for the Red Bull to perk up. Coffee is probably a better bet.
That’s because Red Bull instantly curdles milk like it was a witch in a bad fairy tale. The energy drink is pretty acidic, and milk proteins react with acids to form a salt. Then the casein, a particular protein found in mammal milk, clumps together in big gross lumps. (That’s a long way of saying that the milk curdles.)

8. Grapefruit Juice and Medicine

While we’re on the subject of household stuff you shouldn’t mix in the beaker of your belly, let’s add grapefruit juice and medication to the list.
But grapefruit is just a giant bitter orange, right? How could that change the way pharmaceuticals work?

9. Milk and Antibiotics

Grapefruit juice isn’t the only morning beverage that can mess with your medication. It turns out that milk can also interfere with your antibiotic regimen.

Substances in dairy products bind to certain antibiotics, preventing them from being absorbed in your body. That can ruin their effectiveness. Ask your doctor about dairy products whenever you get a prescription for antibiotics.

10. Vinegar and Baking Soda

The internet is full of cleaning hacks that involve the combination of baking soda and vinegar. This mixture won’t cause poison gas or an explosion (unless you seal it in a bottle), but there is a very good reason that you should avoid it: It doesn’t really help clean anything.

Vinegar is acidic, and baking soda is a base. Mix them together and what do you get? Neutralization! The result of this chemical reaction is mostly just water, which is easier to get out of the tap.
Do yourself a favor and save your vinegar/baking soda for making model volcanoes erupt at the elementary school science fair.

Generally, we’re not afraid of germs.

However, when we’re out in public, we can’t help but notice people with disgusting habits—habits that could easily make them (and other people!) sick, given the right set of circumstances.

Habits are hard to break, but some clearly warrant making the effort to quit. We’re talking about stuff like..

1. Trimming Your Nails

You’re waiting for your train stop, and you’ve got a few spare seconds. You pull out some clippers and try to discreetly trim your fingernails. What’s the harm?

Well, our fingernails are pretty disgusting. The nail’s basically holding in hordes of germs. One 1988 study described the space right under the fingernails as an “important site” for harboring bacteria, so if you’re cutting far enough, you might actually be releasing infectious agents in the world.

Oh, and your clippings are going everywhere. Nobody wants to get hit by flying bits of disease-ridden keratin.

While we’re at it, don’t bite your nails, either. That’s basically injecting your mouth with a big dose of bacteria.

2. Painting Your Nails

Okay, well, you won’t trim your nails; you’ll just paint them.

Obviously, that’s more obnoxious to the people around you. Nail polish fumes probably aren’t great for the human body; the New York Times reports that “of the 20 common nail product ingredients listed as causing health problems in the appendix of a safety brochure put out by the Environmental Protection Agency, 17 are hazardous to the respiratory tract, according to the agency.”

The same report notes that overexposure can cause “burning throat or lungs,” along with “labored breathing.” Granted, that’s mainly an issue for health care workers, but even limited exposure to nail polish fumes can be dangerous for people with respiratory conditions.

Some of the chemicals in nail polish can also leach into your body, according to HuffPost, so that’s another reason to avoid certain polishes. A 2015 study found that one of the chemicals commonly found in nail polishes can affect hormones in zebra fish—so if you’re a zebra fish, you definitely want to avoid nail polish.

3. Eating While You’re at Your Desk

Here’s the main issue with eating at your desk: You’ll probably touch your keyboard in between bites. Your keyboard is pretty disgusting.

One study found that computer keyboards contained more bacteria than an average toilet seat. Although we’re not sure how the researchers chose an “average” toilet seat, the results were pretty alarming. Toilets contained about 5,400 bacteria per swab, whereas keyboards contained around 7,500 per swab.

And some of the bacteria on the keyboards were of species commonly found in the human digestive tract, including E. coli. Go ahead and ponder that for a minute before taking the next bite of your sandwich.

Of course, you can clean your keyboard by lightly swabbing it with isopropyl alcohol, and you can use compressed air to clean between the keys. Let’s be honest, though, you’re not going to do any of that. Instead, don’t eat in front of your computer—unless you’re pairing your meal with a nice course of antibiotics.

4. Making, Ahem, “Adjustments”

You think that nobody’s watching, so you quickly adjust your underwear. Hey, it needed to be done.

That’s fine, provided that you didn’t make a big deal of it—but make sure you wash your hands. Your underwear are relatively filthy, since they’re in frequent contact with sweatier parts of your body, and that sweat tends to feed bacteria on your epidermis. Hey, science can be disgusting sometimes.

Of course, your outerwear might also harbor bacteria. One study found that typical laundry temperatures aren’t sufficient to kill E. coli, staphylococcus, and other potentially dangerous bacteria.

“If you wash a load of just underwear, there will be about 100 million E. coli in the wash water, and they can be transmitted to the next load of laundry,” said Charles Gerba, professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona.

Detergents don’t really help, either, but bleach (or very hot water) can help to sanitize your laundry.

5. Brushing Your Hair

Your hair can be home to staph bacteria, although the minute amounts on a typical strand of hair won’t be enough to pose a serious health risk. The more important reason to avoid brushing your hair in public: It’s rude. You’ll end up showering nearby strangers with loose hair and dandruff, and even if you think that your hair is gorgeous, it’s not so alluring to strangers who are sitting behind you on the subway.

Guys, you’re guilty of this, too; fiddling with your beard is somewhat gross, as beards are covered in bacteria. One study from a local news station showed that some beards contain more bacteria than the average toilet, although again, we’re confused as to where this “average” toilet concept came from. In any case, fiddling with your beard is bad form, especially if you’re in a conversation with someone.

But even though loose hair can be disgusting, it’s worth noting that many of us eat a bit every day. Some food manufacturers boil hair in hydrochloric acid in order to extract L-cysteine, a common food additive used in bread-making.

6. Putting Your Purse or Bag on the Dinner Table

You arrive for a lunch date and put your purse on the table. That’s a major faux pas, since your purse (or handbag) probably rested on the ground several times on the way to the restaurant.

In a study helpfully titled “A study to investigate the importance of purses as fomites,” Susheela D. Biranjia-Hurdoyal and colleagues noted that “Purses hardly get washed and are discarded, mostly, when they are no longer usable.” As the title suggests, the study aimed to determine whether bags act as fomites—carriers of infectious organisms.

Go ahead and guess the results.

“Purses from both men and women are potential vectors for transmission of diseases across the community,” the study writes. “The use of synthetic purses should be discouraged, as they contribute to increased bacterial colonization.”

The study noted that 95.2 percent of purses were “contaminated.” (Shudder.) By the way, the study also notes that men’s purses seem to have higher rates of bacterial growth than women’s purses, so make of that what you will.

7. Sneezing Into Your Hands.

This is an especially common and disgusting habit, and the implications are pretty obvious.

You probably know that your body sneezes to get rid of germs. A typical sneeze travels at 100 miles per hour—fast enough to spread germs through a small space in a fraction of a second. Your sneezes contain relatively high viral and bacterial loads, so they’re potentially dangerous if you’ve been sick. If you’re going to sneeze, you’ve got to cover your mouth with something, or you’ll risk infecting the people around you.

But whatever you do, don’t use your hands. Public health officials recommend against this practice—you’re supposed to sneeze into your arm—but many adults don’t seem to know that.

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius even called out a reporter for sneezing the wrong way in 2009, offering the reporter an Elmo video that taught the proper method. Ouch.

8. Using Hand Sanitizer

Okay, we’ve basically concluded that everything in your life is covered with a fine layer of germs. Better stock up on the hand sanitizer, right?

Nope. Germs are everywhere, which is exactly why you shouldn’t freak out about them. Although there’s some chance that you’ll get E. coli from your keyboard or a staph infection from your beard hair, either scenario is unlikely.

And hand sanitizer certainly isn’t the answer. One recent study from the University of Missouri showed that hand sanitizers may increase absorption of bisphenol A (BPA), a harmful chemical. Several studies have also shown that hand sanitizers can be too effective, killing off the majority of bacteria but leaving super-strong germs free to propagate.

Ultimately, you should avoid the behaviors on this list to be polite to the people around you, but you shouldn’t really worry about the latest viral story (pun intended) about how “everyday objects are as dirty as toilets.” Germs are everywhere—get used to them.

The average person spends 8.2 minutes in the shower.

1. Think of something creative.

The shower is a pretty relaxing place, and when your brain relaxes, you enjoy a nice dopamine rush. That’s extraordinarily helpful if you’re looking for creative inspiration, according to neuroscientist Alice Flaherty.

People vary in terms of their level of creative drive according to the activity of the dopamine pathways of the limbic system,” she said, and if you don’t understand that, don’t worry. Basically, warm showers can induce a dopamine rush, which temporarily improves creativity and allows your mind to work its magic.

2. Study something.

Obviously you’ll need to have some sort of audio playing in order to learn anything in the shower, but you might actually learn more effectively. One study showed that white noise slightly improved memory by enhancing connectivity between parts of the brain that modulate dopamine and attention.

3. Plan out the rest of your day.

For the same reasons that you can study effectively during your morning shower, you can plan pretty effectively. You might as well make a few goals while your critical thinking skills are in full swing, and the noise from the shower should help to block out other distractions in your house. Try making a list of the day’s most important tasks (or the next day’s tasks, if you shower at night).

4. Meditate.

Maybe you’re not into thinking things through in the shower; maybe you’d rather let your mind rest for a few minutes. That’s perfectly fine.

5. Sing.

Singing can fight depression and stress, probably by improving dopamine levels, and the effect might be accented by singing in the shower, since you’re already benefiting from a dopamine release if you’re feeling relaxed. Some research even suggests that singing can extend your life by strengthening your lungs and heart, although that research was completed by a vocal coach, so we’d take it with a grain of salt.

6. Clean.

Sure, it’s not as glamorous as some of the other items on this list, but eventually you have to clean the shower. Why not take care of it while you’re already cleaning yourself? Obviously you don’t need to clean the shower every time you climb in, but this is a good habit to get in if you have trouble finding the time to tidy up your bathroom.
We’d recommend keeping a clean brush in the shower specifically for this purpose. The brush can break up most soap scum and other grime without an added cleaning liquid, but if you feel like using a liquid, vinegar is a great option.

7. Turn down the temperature.

If you can stand freezing water, you can reap some surprising health benefits. One group of researchers found that cold showers dramatically improve the metabolic rate of certain types of fat (probably because your body thinks you’re trapped somewhere in the Arctic Circle).

8. Get out as soon as possible.

Let’s say that nothing else on this list caught your interest. That’s fine; shorter showers could save the planet.

You might consider yourself a clean freak, but germs often lurk in the most unsuspecting places. Unfortunately, you could be exposing yourself to illness with almost everything you touch, and you probably didn’t realize it.

Restaurant Menus

Sure, laminated restaurant menus probably get washed every now and then, but how often really? Unless they get sticky, it’s not likely that they get washed between customers, meaning that you’re picking up anything on the hands of the diner that came before you.

Water Dispensers

The point of a water dispenser is to filter the bad stuff out of our water—how could it be making us sick? Think for a second about the last time you actually decided to clean or sanitize that dispenser, and you have your answer.

Mascara

If you’ve ever shared your mascara with anyone, even a trusted friend, we have one question to ask you—do you want to get pink eye? Because that’s how you get pink eye.

Fungi and bacteria can lurk around the eye without causing any symptoms whatsoever, but give them a tube of mascara to live in and they’ll thrive. Do yourself and your friends a favor and keep your products to yourself, and replace your tube of mascara every three months if you haven’t used up the whole thing.

New Clothes

You’d think you’d be safe buying brand-new clothes from the store, but that’s not always the case. For one thing, clothes that have never been washed can still contain traces of materials they may have picked up while being processed, including formaldehyde.

Your Yoga Mat

Even if you bring your own mat to your favorite yoga class, you could still be putting your skin at risk if you don’t take care of it.

TV Remotes

We hate to break it to you, but your television remote may just be one of the most disgusting things you own. Just think for one second about how many germs you could potentially pick up on your hands, how often you touch your TV remote without washing your hands, and how often you actually wash the remote itself—we’re willing to bet it’s never.

Shower Heads

You might be wondering how something designed to help keep us clean could end up becoming so dirty, but the answer lies in how often you actually make time to clean it—like that TV remote of yours, our guess is that it’s not often.

Your Washing machine

Yes, washing machines help to clean our clothes, but those detergents we add into them aren’t actually designed to get rid of germs. Not only that, but most people don’t wash their everyday laundry with hot water, so there’s really nothing to get in there and clean the machine.

Toilets

Have you ever heard that flushing the toilet with the lid open sends tons of disgusting particles flying into the air? If you brushed it off, you shouldn’t because it’s real and it even has a name—toilet plume.

Produce

Most people know that washing produce before eating it is the right thing to do, but there are a lot of people who probably don’t follow this rule because it’s inconvenient. However, did you know that sometimes it’s washing your produce that could be contaminating it?

Kitchen Gadgets

When was the last time you cleaned off the blade on your can opener, the meat and produce drawers in your refrigerator, or the gasket of your blender? These items come into contact with food often, and they’re ones that most of us don’t even think to clean.

Handshakes

There are some who can’t stand a weak handshake, but did you know that a weak handshake actually transfers less germs than a strong one? In fact, a strong handshake is likely to transfer twice the amount of bacteria to the other person’s hand than a weak one is.

Waiting Room Magazines

It might not seem like a magazine would be home to too many germs, but consider how many people might touch them on any given day, along with the fact that they can’t be disinfected.

Water Bottles

Yes, a reusable water bottle is excellent for the Earth, but it might not always be the best for your health if you don’t wash it often. Even if you don’t mean to, you could be adding bacteria from your mouth into you water with each drink you take, and it’ll only start to multiply as the water sits.

Escalators

Next time you head to the mall or airport, think twice before you grab onto the handrail of that escalator. Tests have shown that they commonly contain substances like blood, feces, urine, mucus, E. coli, and plain ol’ food.

Parents don’t have a lot of time. They often don’t have a lot of money, and they very, very rarely get enough sleep.

1. “Use a box to make them a cardboard slide.”

We’ll admit that this has the potential to be a ton of fun.

But that’s clearly the first time they tried their “slide.” Cardboard’s not great at supporting a 45-pound kid, which is why it’s not used in very many children’s toys. After they slide down it once, the slide’s basically going to be a glorified “fall down the stairs” ride.
Here’s a better idea: Take the kids to the park, or get them an actual slide.

2. “Fill a glove with beans, pat the kid with it a few times, and then slip away into the night.”

Tired parents would like nothing more than to get their kids to sleep through the night. We get it. But we can think of a few things that could go wrong here.

The best case scenario is that the kid grows up with an unhealthy obsession with hands. Worst case, she thinks that her mom’s hand fell off in the crib.
Plus, that’s all assuming that this works. We’re not scientists, but something tells us that a warm human hand feels different from a glove full of beans.

3. “Put temporary tattoos on your kids to keep them from getting lost.”

What are you, an airbrush artist?

Sure, you could mark your children every day as if you’re a cattle rancher, but a much, much more practical option is to sew their address into their clothes.

4. “Get a stroller–scooter hybrid.”

Parents often end up eating junk food simply because they’re running low on time, and failing to eat eventually results in death (and crankiness).
Because of this, they need to look for creative ways to exercise. The ideal parent exercise keeps your kid right in front of you at all times, and that’s where this monstrosity comes in.

5. “Use a vacuum to make a perfect ponytail.”

You know what really, really isn’t difficult? Making a ponytail. You don’t need power tools to do it correctly.

This hack seems to really depend on weak suction from the vacuum cleaner; grab a decent shop vac and you’re going to end up with a sore head. Also, we really, really hope that that’s a brand-new hose. Enough said.

6. “Get your infant to clean your house with this mop suit.”

If you’re actually considering this, you are the laziest parent alive…but don’t worry, we considered it, too.

7. “Keep that toilet seat covered—with sweat socks.”

We don’t even know why this is classified as a “parenting hack,” but we found it in a list of them, so we’ll address it.

8. “Use this jacket to build character.”

There are thousands of variations of this picture. This one’s our favorite, because it’s so utterly pointless.

9. “Use stitched-together mittens to avoid losing your kid.”

These are certainly quite cute. We’d be lying if we said we didn’t want a pair.

10. “Recycle old shirts.”

This is cute, but unless you’re a talented seamstress/seamster, you’re not going to get this result. It looks simple, but some serious work went into this masterpiece.

11. “Use glitter to make tooth fairy money.”

Look, your kid already believes that a magical fairy is giving them cash for their teeth. A little bit of glitter isn’t going to make the illusion any more magical, and it’s going to mean getting glitter all over their sheets.

Oh, and is that a $5 bill we’re seeing? This mom or dad is clearly throwing the curve for the rest of us. Parents need to form a union and standardize tooth fairy payouts at no more than $1 per tooth. $2 for a molar, maybe.

12. “Before handing your kid your iPad, put it in kid mode.”

Don’t hand your kids your iPad. Get them a cheap tablet that they can spill juice on without annihilating your vacation pics.

If you do give your kids a nice tablet, by all means, put it in kid mode, but remember that 4-year-olds are basically hackers these days. Turn your back for a second, and your savings account will be converted into Farmyard Tokens (an e-currency that we just made up, but we’re sure someone’s already patenting it).

13. “Put a popsicle in a muffin cup to save the drips.”

Of course, the popsicle stick will have created a hole at the bottom of the muffin cup…which is exactly where all of the liquid will run.

14. “Use baby toys to hold cabinets closed.”

Putting baby toys on something is a really great way to make a baby want to play with it. It’s really not rocket science.

You’re pregnant! One of the first things people usually ask you is, “Are you gonna find out what you’re having?”

For most of us, the answer is, “Yes!!!” In fact, a Harvard study revealed that over half of us (58 percent, in fact) want to know the sex of our babies.

But knowing your baby’s gender in the womb wasn’t always possible. Way back when, you wouldn’t find out the gender of your baby after it was born. It was until the 1950s that the first ultrasound was developed and not until the late 1970s that American doctors used it regularly to determine your fetus’ sex.

Now, we can’t only find out what we’re having; we also don’t want to keep the secret to ourselves! Modern-day couples are not just skywriting their baby’s gender (talk about overdone!), they are outdoing each other and creating the most fun ways to tell their besties if they’re having a boy or a girl. Check out the coolest baby reveals of all time!

Fireworks!

Skywriting is so passé. This couple enlisted the help of a fireworks company to announce to the world the sex of their baby with a bang.

Monica and Graham Driscoll of Nova Scotia sent their baby’s sex in an envelope to the company and in response, they were sent a dynamite plunger that contained an unknown color of fireworks. They surprised guests (and themselves) with a bright pink message in the night sky. We love Graham’s response!

Dye-ing to Know

What better way to let the world know if you’re having a boy or a girl, than to wear your baby’s gender on your sleeve…er on your head.

Mom-to-be Amanda Parrish had her hairdresser surprise her and her partner with the gender of their baby by having the stylist dye her hair pink or blue based on the ultrasound result. Now that’s commitment!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Baseball is considered a family sport and bringing family and friends together to play baseball and learn the gender of your new family addition is so befitting. That’s what Monique Tello and Steven Statter did.

Monique’s sister was the only person to learn the sex of their baby after her ultrasound. She surprised everyone by filling a plastic Christmas ornament with powdered chalk (pink or blue) and painted it to look like a baseball then pitched the ornament to Statter, who hit it smashingly! To his surprise a pink powder bomb was released.

Squirt Gun Party

You know what kind of family you’re being born into when your gender is announced via a fun and wild squirt gun party!

This absolutely adorable couple filled water guns with paint the color of their baby’s gender and invited their family and friends to have a crazy squirt party to celebrate the coming of their newest addition. We want in!

Oops, They’re What Color??

A fun way of finding out the gender of your baby is to send an envelope of your baby’s gender to a balloon company and have them send you a box filled with pink or blue balloons for a surprising reveal. That’s what this couple did, as they recorded it in front of their friends and family.

Unfortunately, the balloon company seemed to be as confused as the couple was about their baby’s gender, but thank goodness they got it right the second time around.

How sweet it is! Congratulations to the happy family.

Big Brother/Sister Surprise

Sometimes kids aren’t as excited about the birth of a sibling and the possibility of having to share their toys, food and parents’ attention. We love the look on Baylee Stueven’s son’s face and love even more that she chose this picture to send to her friends and family to announce the coming of her baby. That’s real life!

Cutie Cupcakes

Everyone loves cupcakes, especially kids. A fun way to reveal the gender of your baby to them is to fill cupcakes with pink or blue frosting, so that the gender is revealed when they take a bite. Unfortunately, you can’t make everyone happy.

When Heidi Guerard and her husband, Shaun, wanted to surprise their young daughters with the sex of their third child, it didn’t go exactly as they planned. We just adore this little girl’s reaction to her cupcake reveal.

Confetti Crazy

Revealing the gender of your baby is an exciting time and nothing matches that excitement like a blast of color coded confetti! This picture makes us excited for them too!

All in a Row

Sometimes a picture can say a thousand words and we think this one is just creatively perfect. Nothing like saying it with shoes.

Layer by Layer

Lots of people use cakes to reveal the gender of their babies, but this cake takes it a step further! This couple, who was expecting twins, left the task of the reveal up to their baker when they handed him a sealed envelope and instructed him to surprise them with a color-coded cake.

We love their surprise when they were presented with a polka dotted, two-tiered cake that had one pink and one blue layer—one each for the boy/girl twins they were having!

A Little Halloween Fun

What a fun idea to make a holiday even more exciting! This family had the best jack-o-lantern on the block and had trick-or-treaters running to their house.

They skillfully carved the message, “It’s a boy!” on the face and presented it on Halloween night for all of the neighborhood to see. Wonder what next year’s pumpkin will look like?!

Lottery Scratcher

Finding out the gender of your baby is as exciting as (if not more than) winning the lottery.

We think that this idea of announcing the gender of their baby via a homemade lottery scratcher is completely ingenious. 

Silly String War

Who doesn’t love silly string? (Well, probably, the people who have to clean it up.) Silly string makes everything more festive and we think that having your baby’s gender announced to you via pink or blue foam festivities is just perfect.

Check out this couple as they are surprised by their friends. (P.S. we want to cry with Mom and Dad too!)

Creative Sibling

We love fun and witty photo shoots with babies and this picture elicits hundreds of smiles along with the gender reveal of her little brother.

This announcement was sent out to all of the couple’s family and friends and we couldn’t be more delighted. Do we see a model in the making?

Piñata Party

Piñatas are considered big party items and what better way to find out the sex of your baby by being showered with pink or blue candy and confetti?

Comedian and YouTube blogger GloZell was surprised by her mother and her friend with a piñata to hit to reveal her baby’s gender. She not only revealed that she was having a girl, but we also got to see how strong she is!

Belly Painting

Why not use your belly as a canvas to tell your partner (and everyone else) if your baby is a boy or girl? Mom-to-be Tatiana Harris harnessed her inner Bob Ross and took a paintbrush to her midsection to create a message to reveal to her friends and family.

She wore a baggy shirt to a party and then had the baby’s father lift her shirt to surprise all that she was having a boy! As a bonus, all of the dad’s friends showered him with blue paint as well.