Weekend Open Thread and Links

What are you all up to this weekend? In a very unexpected twist, 11-year-old Jackson has developed a serious interest in sports over the past few months, and on Saturday we are going to another sports ball game (my fourth, and his fifth, in under two months). This one is a Yankee game, and we got tickets through his school’s PTO. I’m not a sports fan, but I’m always happy when my kids find things that excite them, and this seems to be fitting the bill for now. Maybe one day I’ll have a kid who thrills at the idea of visiting an art museum or watching foreign films in an arthouse movie theater. (But I won’t hold my breath for too long on that!) Sunday, of course, is Mother’s Day, which seems to have turned into an emotionally-fraught day on which everyone has to apologize to everyone else for all the pain that exists as a result of motherhood. And here people who are parenting young kids just want a day when someone else does the cooking. Whatever your status and whatever level of pain the day may bring up for you, I hope you find moments of joy. (And if you are a mom of young kids, I hope you get to sleep in a bit and enjoy a meal or two cooked by someone else.)

Happy weekend, and here are some links you might enjoy, including a wedding trend couples love and guests hate, and dumb things people have said to their partners that have caused them to reevaluate their whole relationships.

It’s wedding season, which means a return to “The Wedding Trend Couples Love and Guests Hate.” And just for balance, here’s my list of 25 Dos and Don’ts for Surving Wedding Season and Being a Great Guest

My Beautiful Mom: Growing up, my mother taught me the power of looking good. It wasn’t always pretty.

I think some of these must be fake, right? 31 Of The Dumbest Things People Said That Had Their Partners Reevaluating Their Whole Relationship

It’s what we keep saying, but here it is again for anyone who needs to hear it: The No-Contact Rule Will Help You Finally Move On From Your Ex
“High school students are having less sexual intercourse. That’s what the studies say. But that doesn’t mean they’re having less sex.

The language of young love and lust, and the actions behind it, are evolving. And the shift is not being adequately captured in national studies, experts say.” — Sex? Sexual intercourse? Neither? Teens weigh in on evolving definitions — and habits. This article makes me think about a zoom call I sat in on a few months ago that Jackson’s middle school set up for parents to understand teen culture around risky activities like sex and drugs. Let’s just say I may have needed drugs to cope with some of the things I heard.

Heather Armstrong, aka “Dooce,” pioneer of personal blogging and what would eventually become “influencer” culture, died by suicide this week. She was 47. Those of us who started writing on the web in the early days of personal blogging and watched her trajectory likely have a lot of complicated feelings. This essay – How the Internet made, and then broke, Heather Armstrong, the Queen of Mummy Bloggers – sums up some of those feelings really well. My heart goes out to Heather’s family – especially her two teenagers.

Finally, from beginning to end, all 15 pages of this forum thread showcases the problem with some men, the frustration women feel in the dating world, and why the DW community remains one of the best on the internet.