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• I started letting my toddler help cook to improve his picky eating.
• At first it was messy and frustrating, but he became more engaged with food.
• Cooking together built his confidence and made mealtimes more enjoyable.

I never thought I’d be the kind of parent who lets their child loose in the kitchen but, honestly, it’s the best thing I’ve done.

Like many toddlers, my 4-year-old was always interested in what I was doing, but amidst the daily grind of parenting I just wanted to get chores done as quickly and easily as possible.

I had enough to do without having to worry about little fingers getting caught under a knife or that resigned feeling where letting them “help” somehow creates more mess than what you were trying to clean up in the first place. I had heard of the Montessori school of thought that involving children in shared household chores helps foster independence, but honestly, I just wanted to get through the day without making life harder (or messier) for myself.

Everything changed when my son’s fussy eating became too restrictive. He screamed at the sight of food, refusing to touch it, let alone take a bite. A dietician told me I should try to improve his confidence by involving him in cooking tasks. How do you do that when mealtimes are already a mess? Then I started thinking, when is it appropriate to teach him how to cook? If it’s introduced out of the blue one day will he completely resist it?

I left home at age 18 barely able to cook toast, that’s not what I want for my children.

I started introducing simple cooking tasks

Still unsure, I started small by introducing simple cooking tasks like using cookie cutters to cut shapes into cucumber. And that was the day he started eating cucumber.

It grew from there.

From using knives to cut vegetables (with careful supervision and age appropriate tools), to turning on the oven, he’s now cooked all sorts of things. Nothing is off limits, one day he’ll be preparing vegetables, the next day we’re making sandwiches.

It has not all been smooth sailing. Learning to crack an egg has had its ups and downs — I don’t recommend tackling that particular skill unless you’ve got a few spare. I thought using the food processor would be a hit — but the noise resulted in a lot of crying. I tried using a hand blender instead, but in a moment of chaos the mixture ended up hitting the walls. Sometimes the clear up really does take longer than the actual cooking.

Embracing mess and enjoying the results

Yet despite my initial horror at the mess, it’s not the disaster I thought it would be. I had no idea the impact cooking independently would have on him. He has all the boisterous, insatiable energy that 4-year-olds have, a happy and chaotic whirlwind of physical activity.

But when he’s cooking his body becomes still and absorbed with concentration. All his energy becomes harnessed into a laser sharp focus. There are some things I tell him are grown up jobs only — moving anything hot, like a frying pan, is for him to watch, but not to do. He is careful not to get too close if there’s a spitting pan.

So when he asked me to let him cook dinner I didn’t hesitate to say yes, it felt like a natural progression. First of all he helped prepare the vegetables — peeling carrots is one of his favorite tasks. After the carrots he chopped a cucumber with careful precision. Then he measured out the spices into a bowl.

We used a kitchen stool so that he could reach, stirring the mixture around with a wooden spoon. He washed his hands thoroughly in the sink before and after tipping a piece of chicken into the mix. I reminded him which buttons to press to turn the air fryer on.

It seems so simple now, why didn’t I realize it before? Like any other skill, it doesn’t take long for the eggs to start hitting the bowl rather than the floor. And if there is any mess, we can clear it up together.

When there are constant demands on us to play or entertain, sometimes connection can be found over the simplest of tasks. In the kitchen we have become a team, and there’s nothing more satisfying than eating the resulting meal.

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• Octogenarian Jacob Watson has opted to “age in place” at his three-bedroom, two-bathroom home.
• He shares it with tenants who spend eight hours weekly helping with chores, like shopping and cooking.
• In exchange, they pay reduced rent. He said it’s a win-win: they save money and he gets assistance.

This interview is based on a conversation with Jacob Watson, 84, an ordained interfaith minister, writer, and former grief counselor, from Portland, Maine. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My late wife, Kristine, and I were grief counselors, which inevitably led us to discuss our own arrangements for the end of life.

We decided we wanted to “age in place” and stay in our 2,100-square-foot home, built in 1915.

The downstairs bathroom was converted into a handicapped-accessible bathroom with the intention of us living on the first floor as we got older.

But the “we” never happened. On August 3, 2021, a few days after our 33rd wedding anniversary, Kristine died of a heart attack at 71. It was a terrible shock to me and everyone in the family.

I considered an assisted living facility

After that, I lived alone. However, since I have macular degeneration, my vision has gotten progressively worse. I found it increasingly difficult to see everyday things like the numbers on the stove or microwave.

Three years ago, I began to think, ‘I can’t do this by myself.’ I seriously considered selling the house and moving into an assisted living facility.

I thought it would be a relief to know that someone else was taking care of me and would fix anything that went wrong with the property.

But I got almost physically sick when I visited the facilities. I knew the lifestyle wasn’t right for me, and I wouldn’t feel independent or stimulated.

Besides, those apartments are in such high demand that I could have been on a waiting list for two years or more.

It dawned on me that, if I wanted to stick to my original plan, I’d need to take a deep breath and ask for help.

I needed help with my eyesight issues

I figured it would be a good idea to have someone live under the same roof who could watch out for me. They could take over the upstairs — which had two bedrooms, a living room, and a full bathroom — and I could live downstairs.

In 2024, I actively started looking for a housemate or two. In return for a reduced rent, they’d do a few things for me, like cooking an evening meal twice a week, going to the grocery store, and occasionally driving me places.

My acquaintances shared the blurb I wrote with their own contacts. The rent would be $1,350 a month, including utilities, in exchange for 8 hours a week of help with my eyesight issues.

It could be anything from assisting me with my Mac to putting out trash and compost for pickup. I also asked for a weekly check-in when we could discuss the division of the chores and other matters.

My first housemate, Karrie, a 50-year-old physiotherapist, whom I met through my massage therapist, arrived in November 2024 and stayed for a one-year lease.

My daughter, Sarah, 56, who lives about 20 minutes away, made a point of coming over to help me interview her. She obviously wanted to know who this person was who was coming to live with her dad.

Then my current helper, Kathleen, 39, who works for a nonprofit, moved here in January 2026. She is due to move out at the end of May, so I’m hoping to find another natural caregiver to replace her.

We don’t live in each other’s pockets

Both Karrie and Kristine proved to be an excellent match. They’re very independent, and out of the house most of the day, either working or socializing.

It definitely helped that we had our own interests and activities. I’ve always kept busy with my writing, which includes books about grief and meditations, and I have a large network of friends and family.

It wouldn’t have worked so well if my housemates and I lived in each other’s pockets.

One of the most useful things is being able to compose a grocery list and have someone else shop for me. I also really benefit from being able to share the household cooking.

We have a whiteboard in the communal kitchen to keep track of our weekly dinners. Kathleen often prepares larger meals that last for a couple of days, which is a great idea.

It’s been an adjustment to have housemates

There’s also something very reassuring about knowing someone is there in an emergency, such as if I have a fall. Our house is old, and I used to think the creaking and groaning of the floorboards were bad.

Now, when I hear them, I think of them as a positive thing because I know I’m not alone.

It’s been an adjustment to open my house to other people. But so is aging in general. I feel blessed and grateful to be living this interesting situation as I get older. It feels like a win-win.

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang criticized leaders who stoke fear around AI’s impact on the world.
• Huang called the doomerism “ridiculous” and urged industry leaders to rely on facts.
• His criticism appeared directed at tech leaders like Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and xAi’s Elon Musk.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has had enough of your AI hot takes.

While discussing AI adoption during the “Memos to the President” podcast on Thursday, Huang said industry leaders should “be mindful” of how they talk about the significance of the technology.

At one point, he referred to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s prediction that AI could replace 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs in the coming years.

“These kinds of comments are not helpful,” Huang said. “They’re made by people who are like me — CEOs. Somehow, because they became CEOs, you adopt a God complex and, before you know it, you know everything.”

He added, “I think we have to be careful and really ground ourselves to talking about the facts.”

During the interview, Huang also criticized claims that AI could destroy the world.

“Saying nonsensical things, which are not going to happen, that this is an existential threat to humanity, there’s 20% chance that it’s existential. That’s ridiculous,” Huang said.

He was likely referring to Elon Musk, who made the claim during a February appearance on “The Joe Rogan” podcast. Musk said humans faced a “20% chance of annihilation” from AI.

Although AI has permeated nearly every layer of the economy, the long-term effects of the technology on the workforce and humanity as a whole are largely unknown.

Some AI supporters believe the tech will make us more efficient, create more jobs, generate wealth, and solve afflictions of all kinds. Others worry it will replace humans in the workforce, isolate us from each other, and ultimately usher in some kind of apocalypse.

A stark example of this uncertainty is the so-called “Saaspocalypse.” The idea that AI was bringing about the end times for the once-lucrative software-as-a-service industry was, until recently, accepted logic.

A series of earnings reports this week, however, upended that logic. Atlassian, Twilio, and Five9 all reported strong earnings on Thursday.

• “The Devil Wears Prada 2” beefed up the cameos from the first movie.
• Memorable faces from the world of music, fashion, the internet, and sports all appear in the movie.
• Here are the most memorable cameos.

“The Devil Wears Prada” was all about glamour, down to its star-studded cameos. So it makes sense that the sequel would up the ante with a slew of famous faces.

In “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) is hired back to the fictional fashion magazine Runway as its features editor, bringing her back into the orbit of the magazine’s tyrannical boss Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). Andy is tasked with beefing up Runway’s editorial cache, but also finds herself working alongside Miranda to keep Runway afloat in the midst of ownership turmoil that could destroy the brand.

Amid Andy’s journey back into the fray are plenty of parties, red carpets, and fashion shows that are filled with big-name celebrities. Here are the most memorable cameos in “The Devil Wears Prada 2.”

Lady Gaga

The multi-Grammy winner appears in the movie’s third act as a last-minute replacement for John Legend at Runway’s big fashion show in Milan. Miranda calls in a favor to get Gaga to perform, but when the two exchange barbs in her dressing room, it’s clear they have history and aren’t fond of each other.

Donatella Versace

The famed fashion designer shows up in the scene where Andy is trying to track down Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt). Andy finds her old Runway coworker at a cafe with Versace, who grows impatient when Emily steps away for a moment to speak to Andy.

Ciara

The singer is one of the many stars who is featured in the Met Gala scene.

Amelia Dimoldenberg

The “Chicken Shop Date” host can also be seen in the Met Gala sequence.

Paige DeSorbo and Hannah Berner

The “Giggly Squad” podcast hosts and Bravolebrities can be seen in the Met Gala scene.

Ashley Graham

Model Ashley Graham is also there.

Rory McIlroy

Two-time Masters champ, PGA golfer Rory McIlroy, and his wife Erica can be seen chatting with Emily Charlton’s boyfriend, Benji Barnes (Justin Theroux), at the gala.

Kara Swisher

The famed tech journalist is part of the elite group who are invited to Miranda’s Hamptons get-together.

Jenna Bush Hager

The daughter of former President George W. Bush and “Today” third-hour host also gets the invite.

Karl-Anthony Towns

New York Knicks All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns was also at the Hamptons lunch, where Andy has a brief chat with him. (Hathaway is a loyal Knicks fan.)

Jon Batiste

The Grammy and Oscar-winning musician brings some rhythm to the Hamptons lunch.

Ronny Chieng

Also in the Hamptons scene is this “The Daily Show” correspondent and host.

Tina Brown

Media heavyweight Brown can also be seen at the lunch. Brown is the former editor of Vanity Fair and founding editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast.

Law Roach

The famed stylist of Zendaya and Ariana Grande appears at Runway’s big Milan fashion show at the end of the movie.

Heidi Klum

Would it really be a high-fashion event without an appearance from this GOAT?

Naomi Campbell

No, Naomi, the filmmakers wouldn’t dare cut you out of that scene either!

• A version of this story originally appeared in the BI Tech Memo newsletter.
• Sign up for the weekly BI Tech Memo newsletter here.

Sam Altman likes to say that compute is destiny. This week, Google proved him right.

After the latest round of Big Tech earnings, Google’s stock jumped 10%, while Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon either fell or stalled. If this trend holds, Google could soon become the world’s most valuable company, overtaking Nvidia.

What sets Google apart: it has the most complete set of AI building blocks, assembled over decades. The company supplies energy to its massive data centers, operates millions of chips and servers, and controls a global fiber network. It even designs key components, such as TPUs.

In a recent ranking of AI computing power, Google led in a mind-blowing way. That edge is becoming decisive. It doesn’t matter how good your AI model, chatbot, or coding tool is. If you can’t deliver AI quickly and reliably to billions of users, they won’t stick around.

That reality is gaining urgency. Many in the industry believe top AI models will soon perform similarly, with rivals catching up fast. If so, the advantage shifts away from algorithms and toward delivery.

Google learned this lesson early. Cofounder Larry Page was obsessed with speed. A 2009 Google paper, “Speed Matters,” found that slowing Search results by 400 milliseconds reduced usage by nearly 0.5%, drifting toward 1% over time. At Google’s scale, that’s billions of dollars.

AI raises the stakes. Each query requires more computing power than a search, making speed even more valuable. This explains why tech giants are spending trillions of dollars on infrastructure.

Google is outspending rivals, and the benefits show. Microsoft’s cloud business is growing strongly, but the growth rate has plateaued as it diverts capacity to its own AI tools. Google, by contrast, has enough compute for both: cloud revenue surged 68% in the latest quarter, while Search grew 19%, even as it pours resources into internal AI projects such as Gemini and AI Mode.

This is why Altman is so obsessed with amassing as much compute as possible, even if it stretches OpenAI’s finances to breaking point. The startup has had to scrap projects because it doesn’t have enough. Anthropic has suffered in similar ways lately, and its solution is to buy capacity from Google.

If compute is destiny, Google owns the future. At least for now.

Sign up for BI’s Tech Memo newsletter here. Reach out to me via email at abarr@businessinsider.com.

• Some politicians have earned invitations to the exclusive Met Gala fundraiser through the years.
• New York City mayors Michael Bloomberg and Eric Adams attended the Met Gala during their terms.
• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wore a dress with “tax the rich” written on it in 2021.

The Met Gala, known as fashion’s biggest night, features an exclusive guest list curated by Vogue’s former editor in chief, Anna Wintour.

The invitation-only event, where guests show off their elaborate bespoke looks to raise money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, isn’t necessarily a setting where you’d expect to find politicians. However, some elected officials have made the cut over the years.

Some, such as Donald Trump, attended the Met Gala before entering politics. Others, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, were invited after being elected to Congress.

Here’s what eight politicians have worn to the Met Gala.

Hillary Clinton, then a US senator, attended the Met Gala in 2001.

She wore a cheetah-print ball gown with a shiny shawl to the event, which was themed “Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years.”

She returned to the Met Gala in 2022 wearing a custom Joseph Altuzarra gown.

The gown featured the embroidered names of 60 women she admired stitched into the neckline and hem.

Before he was president of the United States, Donald Trump was a fixture at the Met Gala.

The theme of the 2004 gala was “Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century.”

Trump attended with his future wife, Melania Knaus — they got engaged that year.

Donald Trump appears to have worn the same tuxedo to the event every year, while Melania Trump’s outfits varied.

Melania Trump wore an Alexander McQueen ball gown in 2005.

While pregnant with Barron, Melania Trump wore a white empire-waist dress with a black belt.

The theme of the gala was “Anglomania.”

At the 2007 gala, Trump wore his black tuxedo with a bow tie, and Melania wore a shimmering gold dress.

Melania’s dress was designed by Roberto Cavalli.

Melania wore a hot pink Vera Wang gown in 2008.

The theme of the 2008 gala was “Superheroes.”

The tuxedo made another appearance at the 2009 gala, while Melania wore a black Dolce & Gabbana dress.

Guests dressed according to the theme “The Model As Muse.”

In 2010, Trump sported his go-to tux, and Melania wore a navy satin dress by Christian Siriano.

Siriano later stated that he would not dress Melania Trump while she served as first lady.

“I think for a while, everyone was trying to figure out what to do. Unfortunately, it really doesn’t have anything to do with [Melania], but she is representing what’s happening politically, and what’s happening politically right now is not really good for anyone,” he told Time magazine in 2017.

For the “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” Met Gala in 2011, Melania wore a gold dress by Reem Acra.

She paired the dress with a gold Alexander McQueen bag, while Trump wore his go-to tuxedo.

At their last Met Gala appearance, Trump wore what appears to be the same tuxedo, and Melania chose a dramatic white minidress with pointy shoulder pads.

The theme that year was “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations.”

Before he was mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg attended the Met Gala with Mary Jane Salk in 1998.

The theme of the gala was “Cubism and Fashion.” Bloomberg wore a black tuxedo with a taupe bow tie and black shoes with gold detailing. Salk wore a black dress with a floral pattern and a black shawl.

While serving as mayor, he wore a charcoal suit to the 2007 gala.

The theme of the gala in 2007 was “Poiret: King of Fashion.”

These days, men at the Met Gala often skip suits in favor of something a little more unexpected.

Bloomberg wore a red bow tie to the event in 2008.

His partner, business executive Diana Taylor, wore a purple mermaid-style gown.

He exchanged the bow tie for a red tie in 2010, while Taylor wore a beaded gown in earth tones.

The theme of the evening was “American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity.”

Bloomberg went with a blue bow tie in 2012, and Taylor wore a green dress with an accent at one shoulder.

The theme of the gala was “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations.”

In 2014, he wore white-tie attire.

Diana Taylor wore a velvet burgundy dress, while Bloomberg’s daughter, Georgina, wore a blue gown.

He wore a tuxedo with a silver bow tie for the 2019 gala, themed “Celebrating Camp: Notes on Fashion.”

Georgina wore a black-and-white gown with a sparkly gold lining, while Taylor chose a black flapper-inspired look.

Bloomberg wore a tuxedo with a lavender bow tie in 2021.

Taylor wore a black dress with silver tinsel detailing.

In 2023, he accessorized with a checkered bow tie and a pin with the American and Ukrainian flags.

The theme of the 2023 gala was “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty.”

The former mayor chose a pink bow tie for the 2024 gala.

The theme of the 2024 Met Gala was “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.”

Mitt Romney attended the Met Gala in 2018 with his wife, Ann Romney, while wearing a Brioni tuxedo he bought on Amazon.

Ann Romney didn’t want him telling anyone where he got his suit, but he couldn’t resist.

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, who represented New York’s 12th congressional district, attended the Met Gala that same year in an ornate black, silver, and gold gown.

The dress fit the theme of “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & the Catholic Imagination.”

At the 2019 gala, she wore a neon-yellow Vassilis Zoulias dress with a firefighter jacket she vowed to wear until the passage of her bill for 9/11 first responders.

“Anytime anyone sees me wearing the coat, I can feel it tugging on their conscience, and I can feel their remembering,” Maloney told People magazine in 2019. “And many people then have to tell me where they were on 9/11. This jacket speaks louder and more eloquently than any speech that can be given on the floor.”

The Never Forget the Heroes Act became law in July 2019.

In 2021, Maloney wore a dress made of “equal rights for women” pennants in keeping with the theme, “Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion.”

The multicolored dress was covered with a cape made of individual pennants that said “equal rights for women.”

Maloney carried a purse that said “ERA YES,” voicing support for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. 

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio wore a blue velvet tuxedo by Brooklyn-based designer Dreu Beckemberg in 2021.

He walked the red carpet with his wife, Chirlane McCray, who wore an orange Fe Noel gown, and their son, Dante.

The mayor’s spokesperson, Bill Neidhardt, told Politico that de Blasio attended the gala to “highlight the return of the city’s fashion industry jobs.”

At her Met Gala appearance in 2021, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wore a dress with “tax the rich” written on it.

The Brother Vellies dress was strapless and had a tulle mermaid-style skirt. 

“Tax the rich” was written on the back in large red type.

In March 2023, the Office of Congressional Ethics found that Ocasio-Cortez’s staff didn’t pay for the rented dress, makeup, or hairstyling until February 2022, two days after the ethics agency reached out about the lack of payments, Business Insider’s Rebecca Cohen and Madison Hall reported.

In a statement, Ocasio-Cortez’s lawyer said the Democratic congresswoman “finds these [payment] delays unacceptable, and she has taken several steps to ensure nothing of this nature will ever happen again.”

“However, while regrettable, this matter definitively does not rise to the level of a violation of House Rules or of federal law. Even after OCE’s exhaustive review of the Congresswoman’s personal communications, there is no evidence that she ever intended to avoid these expenses,” the statement continued.

While serving as mayor of New York City, Eric Adams attended the Met Gala in 2022 with partner Tracey Collins.

Adams wore a jacket that read “End gun violence” on the back.