From a bus driver who went the extra mile for a student to a mother-of-the-bride dress that ignited a passionate debate, there were certain moments that stuck with us in 2024.
Here’s a look at some of the best ones.
The dress worn by the bride’s mother at a wedding starts a heated debate: Stunning or inappropriate?
Photos of Louisiana mom Lori DeWitt walking down the aisle in a custom Audrey + Brooks floral design featuring a plunging neckline at her daughter Amanda’s wedding had people taking sides.
A dress worn by mother-of-the-bride Lori DeWitt had people talking.
The reactions included:
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“She’s trying to upstage her daughter.”
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“You go Mom!! You look fabulous!! I can’t wait until my daughter gets married! I wanna look just like you!!”
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“Ridiculously low cut. Beautiful fabric, trashy cut for a wedding. Period.”
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“I love this so much! I want my Mom to feel So beautiful on my wedding day, ya’ll are cray.”
For her part, Amanda DeWitt Leblanc called her mom’s look “perfect.”
“For my next daughter’s wedding I think I’m going to show up in a burlap sack that says MOB,” Lori joked.
A bus driver saved the day when a student was in tears because he didn’t have any PJs for Pajama Day at school
The bus driver affectionately known as Mr. Larry to the young students on his school bus route in Louisville, Kentucky, went above and beyond to make one little boy’s day.
Mr. Larry to the rescue!
A first grader named Levi told bus driver Larry Farrish Jr. through tears that he didn’t have any pajamas for Pajama Day. After he finished his morning route, Farrish went to a local store, bought two pairs of pajamas and brought them to Levi at school.
“I can tell Mr. Larry is nice and his heart is filled with joy,” Levi said. “When he got me the pajamas, I did a happy cry.”
A 3-word note a husband left for his wife next to a sink of dirty dishes went viral
Plot twist! Susan Lehman, a mom of two in Washington state, was not in a great mood when she woke up to a sink full of dishes. Her husband had friends over to watch a big game a night earlier.
However, as she approached the pile of plates, she saw a simple note with an arrow pointing at the dishes: “I got it!”
“What a good guy,” she said in a TikTok video. “I just love that he acknowledges that he left a mess in the sink, and don’t worry, he’ll take responsibility for it.”
The video sparked a conversation about whether her husband, Matt, was doing a great thing, or whether he was being praised for doing the bare minimum.
“Those people missed the point entirely,” Lehman told TODAY.com.
Triplets found out their birth order when they were 18 in a viral TikTok. Their parents shared why they waited
Triplets Janie, Wright and Luke Hilbert didn’t find out their birth order until they were 18, and their reactions were viewed tens of millions of times on TikTok.
Their parents shared with TODAY.com why they waited so long. They ascribed it to their oldest son, Clayton, who is a few years older than the triplets.
“We were like, all right, let’s just keep it a secret,” their mother said. “It’ll be fun. They won’t have to subscribe to any of the stereotypes of oldest, middle, youngest, all that.”
Janie ultimately revealed the birth order in a follow-up TikTok video.
“I did not want to be the youngest,” she said about her hopes for the reveal.
A dad’s experience with his daughter in a public bathroom goes viral: ‘No such thing as a small gesture’
A dad traveling solo with his 6-year-old daughter found himself in a tricky spot when the men’s restroom at a train station was particularly filthy.
Kier Gaines usually refrains from taking her to the women’s room in order to avoid making anyone feel uncomfortable. As Gaines was trying to figure out what to do, custodian Jorsh Delfish told him to just give him a couple of minutes and he would quickly clean up a stall for his daughter.
“I wiped down the toilet seat, I sprayed my own cologne so it would smell good, I disinfected everything,” Delfish said, adding, “I like helping other parents. …. We gotta have each other’s backs, you know?”
“There is no such thing as a small gesture,” Gaines wrote in an appreciative Instagram post.
The adoptive parents of a baby boy found in a shoebox shared the story of how he joined their family
A baby boy who was left in a shoebox at a Kentucky fire station with a note and a blanket is now the adopted son of parents who prayed he would one day be part of their family.
Brittany Tyler and her husband, Chris, shared the story of how a boy they named Samuel became the younger brother to their sons Judah and Calvin.
The Tylers were chosen because they foster medically fragile babies.
“I remember holding him in my arms and knowing right off the bat, ‘This is my boy. This is the next member of our family,’” Chris told TODAY.com.
A mom asks if she’s ‘overreacting’ about a Target dress
It wasn’t just wedding dresses causing debates this year. Michigan mom Meghan Mayer had people talking with a TikTok video about a smock-style patterned dress with side cutouts at the waist that she found in the girls’ clothing section of a local Target.
“I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, what in the world is going on here?’” Mayer told TODAY.com. “I don’t like filming myself in public, but I was curious to see if other people thought the slits were weird.”
The reactions were divided:
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“You’re not overreacting. You’re parenting properly.”
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“I bought this for my 6-year-old. I think it’s super cute.”
A kindergarten teacher begs parents: ‘Please don’t bring cupcakes’ on birthdays
School etiquette was on the menu for Illinois kindergarten teacher Ann Brackemyer when she asked for parents’ help in avoiding a “ginormous mess.”
Brackemyer pleaded for parents to skip sending cupcakes to school for kids’ birthdays and suggested cookies and mini-donuts as alternatives.
Her take on cupcakes in a TikTok video did not exactly produce unanimous support.
“Is it your birthday? or theirs?” one person wrote.
“I was my kindergartener’s room mom last year and helped with all the holiday parties,” another responded. “I actually said out loud during one ‘note to self, don’t send cupcakes.’”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com