It's so important to teach kids winter sports so they can grow up loving the season. But how early is too early? The latest sensation is Sloan Henderson, whose parents filmed her snowboarding at - wait for it - 14 months old.
Her parents, Zach and Katie, got her the smallest board they could find just as soon as she could walk, which was a month earlier.
Many videos of kids doing remarkable things capture the Internet's heart, but I must admit I'm just not feeling it with this particular video.
Don't get me wrong, Sloan is a cutie pie, but she looks unsure when she's on the board and it's only when she stops and high fives her dad that she flashes a precious smile.
Then there's the fact that many people have pointed out: she's not wearing a helmet. Look, I don't want to get all judgy and suggest her parents are somehow reckless. The ride was short and smooth, and at no point did Sloan appear to be in actual danger.
Still, the video did make me wonder: What's the almighty rush to get our kids learning sports earlier and earlier?
Is there any good reason a 14-month-old with a soother in her mouth has to learn to snowboard? After all, there are plenty of other ways to enjoy winter and stay active as a family... Watching this video, I sensed that putting her on a board was more for her parents' benefit than for Sloan's. And I know some people will counter my why with why not.
Parents surely have their own comfort levels, yet it begs the question: Is there such thing as too early when it comes to putting a child on the slopes?
Last month, social media rallied to identify a boy wearing a Messi jersey made out of a striped blue-and-white plastic bag. Well, the Internet has delivered and, in an amazing alignment of stars, it now seems the five-year-old boy may get to meet his hero IRL.
The tweeted image of Murtaza Ahmadi from Jaghori, Afghanistan, captured the hearts of people far and wide - including soccer legend, Lionel Messi himself.
Afghanistan Football Federation has confirmed that Messi will meet his 5 year old fan Murtaza at Camp Nou.. pic.twitter.com/HTNKlzxw3y
— Leo Messi (@messi10stats) February 1, 2016
Thanks to the powers of the Internet, the stars aligned, and the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) confirmed in its blog that it was arranging a meeting between Murtaza and his idol.
The story is a heartstrings-tugger, no doubt. Because Murtaza's dad couldn't afford the real jersey, his brother fashioned a mock-up using a plastic carrier bag. By turns sweet, by turns sad.
When I was growing up, it wasn't unheard of for kids to do this sort of thing if their families couldn't afford the big brand names. But back then, there was no world wide web. So there was never the remotest possibility of your dream actually coming to fruition - let alone having your hero catch wind of your little private fantasy.
I can't wait to follow this story through to its conclusion. Plaudits to Messi if he puts in some face time with his protege.
Imagine this little boy's expression... Maybe some dreams really can come true.
If Disney is a little saccharine for your taste, then you may prefer Walt's classics reimagined by legendary filmmaker, Tim Burton. The clever mashup was done by Los Angeles artist, Andrew Tarusov.
Tarusov has turned the otherwise lovely princesses into goth girls, and I have to say this is possibly the best in a long line of manipulations of beloved Disney characters.
Even Disney has creepy elements, but as seen through Burton's much darker lens, the princesses themselves look zombified. Bats and spiders feature heavily. And the boy-like qualities of Pinocchio have been traded for that of a corpse.
While the end results may be way too gothic and Box Troll for many kids, adults who grew up crushing on Scissorhands are all over the Burton homage.
Tarusov admits even he isn't sure what sparked the unlikely coupling of Tim Burton and Disney. "It just happened and I began to draw immediately! It’s all drawn by pencil on paper and then coloured in Photoshop on my computer."
Burton fans may be eternally grateful - not so sure what the Disney execs will make of it, though.
Image Source: Facebook Andrew Tarusov Pin-Up & Illustration
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