Tuesday, 13 February 2024

How sober moms are challenging ‘wine mom’ culture

February 13, 2024 VIEW IN BROWSER

THIS IS TODAY

Super Bowl 58 goes down in the record books with monster ratings. Plus, how some moms are transforming "wine mom" culture into a sober group and one woman's quest to prove a popular snack is a ripoff at the airport.

The Latest

Super Bowl 58 draws record 123.4 million viewers.

At this point, the Kansas City Chiefs can only beat themselves. This year's Super Bowl, in which the Chiefs edged the San Francisco 49ers in overtime, was seen by 123.4 million viewers, making it the most watched telecast in history, according to CBS, which carried the game. This year's Super Bowl, propelled further by interest in Taylor Swift and Usher's halftime show, would top the record of 115 million viewers set last year when the Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles. Nielsen has not yet verified CBS' numbers, but the network said it would do so on Tuesday. In addition to CBS, the game could be watched on NFL Network, Univision, Paramount+, NFL+ and ViX, a Spanish-language streaming service. A kid-friendly broadcast with characters from "SpongeBob SquarePants" also aired on Nickelodeon.

Neighbors say they told officials about Houston church shooter's dangerous behavior.

Six women who live near Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston say the suspect who opened fire at the megachurch Sunday had targeted, harassed and threatened them. The women, who live in the Houston suburb of Conroe, said during a news conference Monday that they alerted officials about the behavior of Genesse Ivonne Moreno, with one woman saying Moreno pointed a handgun at her in 2022. "We cannot do anything more than what we did. We tried to stop this," one woman said. "We tried to help her. We tried to help us. We tried to help the public. Something needs to get done." Authorities say Moreno opened fire between services at the church and her 7-year-old son, who was with her at the time, was wounded. Two off-duty officers at the church returned fire, killing Moreno.

🍷 How moms are ditching 'wine mom' culture and finding their sober tribe, one playdate at a time.

"Wine mom" culture may be rooted in moms bonding around alcohol as a way to cope with the rigors of motherhood, but it can come with a price. "We'd get our children off the bus and drink from three o'clock on, while the kids played outside," "On the Edge of Shattered" author Kimberly Kearns tells TODAY.com. "I wouldn't remember walking them home or putting them to bed." To address it, some moms in Massachusetts are now sober bonding — connecting with other moms through activities that don't involve drinking. Find out more here.

🧐 What's the biggest airport snack ripoff? This woman says it's Chex Mix.

Airport snacks that have people digging deep into their pockets to pay for sustenance while waiting for a flight is nothing new, but comedian Kylie Brakeman touched a nerve when she asked people to let her know how much her favorite snack, Chex Mix, costs at various airports. Some of the numbers will make your eyes pop. "I think it's just relatable to a lot of people because we're just being price-gouged in every direction at airlines now and there's no control over it," Brakeman told TODAY.com. "I think a lot of people have felt this way."

Start TODAY

Achieve your life and health goals with easy tips.

Ab exercises are a popular workout for anyone looking to sculpt their core or alleviate back pain. Not all ab workouts, though, are the same, so if traditional situps or crunches aren't cutting it or are causing pain, it's key to find exercises that work for you. The good news is there is no shortage, as personal trainer and TODAY fitness contributor Stephanie Mansour shares 16 ab exercises, ranging from the pelvic tilt and plank, to the bird dog and scissor kick. See all 16 exercises here.

What's for dinner?

Allow us to do the meal-planning for you

Love is in the air this Valentine's Day, but that's hardly the only sweet scent to delight the senses. If you're looking for that special meal to wow that special someone, look no further than Marry Me Chicken, developed by Delish food editor Lindsay Funston and so named because people say they'd marry her for this dish. If that doesn't get your heart racing or whet your appetite, you can roll with a Tuscan shrimp or the very romantic-sounding red wine spaghetti. See all the recipes here.

Daily Delight

A little pick-me-up before you go.

It's Girl Scout cookie season and one mom has outlined her rules of what not to say in an Instagram post when approached about purchasing the sweet treats. You don't need to go off about your diet or yap on and on about calories. In fact, any unnecessary explanation is, well, unnecessary. "Nobody is mentioning these things out of malice," San Diego mother of two Nicole Romanella O'Neal says. "It's just an awareness that people don't have. I'm simply asking them for mindfulness."