Melissa Gilbert left Los Angeles for a simple cottage life in the Catskills: See inside her happy life now

It is truly amazing when child actors grow up in front of the eyes of the audience. We see them become stars and celebrate their every success as though it’s our own.I bet most of you remember the children of the Ingalls family from Little House on the Prairie. If you do, you must be wondering where they are today and what they are up to.The second oldest daughter of the family, Laura Ingalls, was played by actress Melissa Gilbert, who captured the hearts of the fans and became an acting sensation almost overnight. Well, more or less like the rest of the cast. Melissa was featured in commercials and had some minor roles before taking the part in Little House on the Prairie. During the run of the series, she played parts in other films including The Diary of Anne Frank and The Miracle Worker.

Born on on May 8, 1964, in Los Angeles, California, Melissa was given up for adoption by her parents who each had three children from their previous marriages and feared they couldn’t provide for another child. Melissa was lucky to be welcomed into the life of her adoptive parents, actor Paul Gilbert and actress/dancer Barbara Crane, from whom she learned all about the entertainment business.

In 2015, Melissa took a role in the short film One Smart Fellow, and played in Secret and Lies and The Night Shift some years before. She is also a writer. Her autobiography Prairie Tale: A Memoir speaks of the period of her life during the famous series.

As she goes back to the time of filming the series, she recalls she had a fun time with the rest of the crew.Portraying a girl living on a farm seemed exciting back then, and it looks like Melissa got to love that way of living so she and her husband, actor-director Timothy Busfield, moved from Michigan to new home in New York a few years ago and even bought a hunting cabin and considered getting chickens and building a barn for goats and horses, she revealed during a virtual Television Critics Association panel focusing on the PBS American Masters biography “Laura Ingalls Wilder.” However, the coronavirus pandemic forced them to put their plans on hold.

Today, however, they do live in the cabin and their days seem picture perfect. The place needed a full renovation, but despite the challenges, they were determined to turn the place into a comfortable home.

The first step was getting rid of the staff the previous owners left there. Next, they needed to get rid of the rodents and mildew and fix the plumbing.

They refurbished the cabinets, installed red vinyl chairs, and heated the house with a wood fire.

Gilbert and her husband grow their own fruits and vegetables.

The actress loves her peaceful home and the challenges that living at such a place brings. She copes with her responsibilities with a smile on her face and enjoys a cup of tea at the end of each day.

Can You Solve This Tricky Viral Math Problem

We all love a good brain teaser, especially when it involves math—whether we admit it or not. A tricky math problem recently went viral, leaving the internet divided and proving once again that even simple-looking equations can be deceptive.

My Math Struggles & A Challenge

Here’s a quick personal anecdote: I recently started preparing for the GRE and realized that I hadn’t taken a formal math class in nearly nine years. Confidence? Gone. My quantitative reasoning skills? Rusty at best. So, I decided to brush up by taking online high school math courses, starting from the absolute basics.

When I came across this viral math puzzle that was stumping the internet, I thought, “This is my moment! Let’s see if I still have my 9th-grade math chops!” Spoiler: I did not.

The Viral Math Puzzle Taking the Internet by Storm

The problem originally surfaced in Japan, where researchers found that only 60% of people in their 20s managed to solve it correctly. It quickly spread online, turning into yet another viral challenge because, apparently, we love testing our brains with tricky equations (or we just enjoy arguing over the answers).

At first glance, the problem looks simple. But the devil is in the details. My gut told me there was some sort of trick involved—it seemed too easy. However, instead of embarrassing myself by attempting it publicly, I turned to the internet for guidance. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that someone, somewhere, has already tackled your problem and made an instructional video about it. So, I spent my morning watching people do math on YouTube. Exciting stuff.

The Math Problem:

6 ÷ 2(1 + 2) = ?

Go ahead, solve it. I’ll wait.

Video : Viral problem from Japan

Common Wrong Answers

If you got 1 or 9, you’re not alone. Many people arrived at these answers because of a little acronym called PEMDAS (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction).

You may remember PEMDAS from school—or perhaps the mnemonic “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.” The rule dictates that you must solve problems in this specific order:

Parentheses
Exponents
Multiplication & Division (from left to right)
Addition & Subtraction (from left to right)

So, following PEMDAS, some people calculated it as:

Solve inside the parentheses: (1 + 2) = 3
Rewrite the problem: 6 ÷ 2(3)
Some then treated 2(3) as a single term and multiplied first: 6 ÷ 6 = 1

However, others applied division before multiplication:

6 ÷ 2 = 3
Then, 3 × 3 = 9

Both groups were confident in their logic, but only one approach was correct.

The Correct Answer

The correct answer is 9. Here’s why:

Step 1: Solve the Parentheses First

(1 + 2) = 3

Now the equation is rewritten as:
6 ÷ 2(3)

Step 2: Follow the Order of Operations

According to PEMDAS, division and multiplication are performed from left to right (since they share the same level of priority in the hierarchy).

6 ÷ 2 = 3
3 × 3 = 9

Wait… Isn’t the Answer 1?

Some people argue that implicit multiplication (like 2(3)) takes precedence over division. However, modern mathematical notation treats multiplication and division equally. Since they appear side by side in the equation, we solve left to right.

If the equation had been written as:
6 ÷ (2 × 3)

Then, you would multiply first and get:
6 ÷ 6 = 1

But because the given equation lacks parentheses around 2(3), the correct answer remains 9.

Why People Get It Wrong

The confusion stems from different ways of interpreting notation and how we were taught order of operations. In some older textbooks, implicit multiplication (like 2(3)) was given higher priority than division, leading to the alternative answer of 1. However, under modern mathematical conventions, division and multiplication hold equal weight and should be solved left to right.

Video : 13 Riddles That Are Trickier Than They Seem

Math Rules Are Not Always Universal

Believe it or not, different countries and academic institutions teach math slightly differently. Some older math textbooks might suggest treating multiplication next to parentheses as having higher priority, while others follow the standard left-to-right rule. This is why debates like this never really die down—people were simply taught different methods!

How to Avoid Future Math Confusion

Always follow the standard order of operations – PEMDAS (or BODMAS, if you learned it that way).
If in doubt, add brackets – Parentheses make everything clearer and help prevent confusion.
Be consistent – If you’re solving problems with others, use the same approach so that everyone gets the same answer.
Check multiple sources – Sometimes, even textbooks disagree. Looking at different explanations can help clarify tricky concepts.

Final Thoughts

This viral math problem is a perfect example of how simple-looking equations can spark endless debate. The way you approach it depends on how you learned math, but if you apply PEMDAS correctly, the answer is 9—at least according to current conventions.

So, did you get it right, or are you questioning everything you thought you knew about math? Either way, at least we can all agree that math is a lot trickier than it looks!