It may be the holiday weekend, but Matthew Wiener served up another Mad Men for us anyway. Titled The Better Half, it took Don Draper away from the (still unnamed!) agency and sent him off to the country to visit Bobby for parents' weekend. Leave it to Don to run into a hot blond at the gas station on the drive up and end up in her bed just a few hours later.

We should know by now that we can count on Don Draper to screw pretty much anything with legs, but even by his standard's tonight's dalliance was unexpected ... and surprisingly sweet.

Leaving Megan behind in the city, where she was propositioned by co-star, Arlene, who she'd turned to for some motherly advice, Don runs into Betty. Yes, that Betty. As in Betty Hofstadt Draper Francis, as in Betty who Don admits he actually misses.

Did you see that coming?

Back to being blond, svelte, and gorgeous, the former Mrs. Draper is flying solo for the first part of parents weekend, leaving Henry behind. It isn't just her looks that have changed.

We got to see a softer side of Betty tonight, a mom who sings camp songs with her son in the middle of a restaurant, a mom who can sit with her ex-husband on the porch of a motel and talk about the kids together.

And then she gets up, goes into her room to escape the mosquitoes eating her alive (apparently there is still blood in her veins, not just ice), and she leaves the door open behind her ... proving she knows Don better than we ever really realized.

She knew he was going to walk in, she knew he'd shut the door, and she knew they'd end up in bed together. You can tell she knew it all, and yet it doesn't seem like Betty is manipulating him. If anything, she seems ... wistful. And, OK, a bit horny.

Aside from some derivative dialogue about what it was like when they laid eyes on each other at the gas station -- if you're channelling Don Draper on your next date, just go with, "you are as beautiful as the day I met you" -- their pillow talk even showed a surprising amount of understanding from Betty.

As she says of Megan, "She doesn't know that loving you is the worst way to get to you."

Finally! Someone gets Don Draper! If only it was his wife and she'd figured that out five years ago!

What did you think of the Don and Betty hook-up?

Image via Michael Yarish/AMC

Technically the calendar says summer doesn't start until June, but Memorial Day weekend is an unofficial start to a summer of barbecues, parades, and all-around fun. But let's not forget what the holiday is really all about: a patriotic tribute to our fallen, the men and women who gave their lives so we might be free.

Patriotic quotes remind us that today's a day to honor the dead, to visit the veterans cemetery, to show that you are free to be an American because of the brave. And what better way to show your American spirit than by wearing your heart on your sleeve?

Feel free to share these quotes on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc... to show our military families that America is behind them, and we appreciate all they have done for us.

More From The Stir: 10 Memorial Day Traditions More Important Than a Barbecue

Because Memorial Day isn't just about a barbecue, is it?

Which of these quotes really strikes home with you?

Image by Jeanne Sager

If there's a "golden rule" of motherhood, it's this: when you find a good babysitter, you hold on for dear life. You pay them well and you guard their phone number like it's the last the hope diamond.

I have a babysitter like this. She started with us when she was 13, and she's about to turn 17. She is more like an extra daughter than someone I employ, and I thank the gods for her on a pretty regular basis.

Because I know not every babysitter is like her. There are saints. There are big sisters. And then there are the horror stories. Trying to scout out childcare for the kiddos? Here's a little taste of just who you're going to find out there!

More From The Stir: My Daughter Loves Her Babysitter Too Much

Don't worry, it's not all bad!

Which of these have you encountered?

Image by Jeanne Sager

Rihanna might not be able to stay away from Chris Brown, but she could be facing her dangerous on-and-off love through a thick wall of Plexiglas soon. Just days after Amanda Bynes had the audacity to blame Brown's domestic violence incident on Rihanna's looks, Brown is in trouble again. If a judge decides he's violated the terms of probation, the singer could be headed for jail!

And now for the really good news: this tangle with the law has nothing to do with Rihanna. He's not charged with hitting her again. Phewwww.

Instead, the LAPD is said to be looking for Brown after he allegedly rear-ended another driver, gave some fake insurance information and refused to give his driver's license number, and took off. What is it with celebrities? Either they're so obsessed with their own fame that they pull the "don't you know what I am" card or they suddenly want to pretend they're not famous and run away. Brown does realize people KNOW who he is, right? He doesn't really think he -- of all people -- can get away with a hit-and-run, does he?

According to TMZ, the alleged hit-and-run could be considered a parole violation for Brown, who is supposed to keep his nose clean after his infamous domestic violence conviction. If a judge decides this bad boy behavior is a problem, it could mean four years in prison for Chris Brown.

Considering he's somehow avoided doing hard time for hitting Rihanna and his various tangles with the law since, the chances are slim.

Still, it would be good news for Rihanna fans who just want to see her move on, right?

The sad thing about their on-again-off-again-on-again relationship is that Rihanna is following typical victim behavior. The cycle of abuse is one we on the outside can't contemplate, but one that's an emotional nightmare for a victim.

For Rihanna, seeing Chris go to prison could be a nightmare because of that, but it could also be her big chance to break free, to develop a stronger sense of self without him. The longer he's away, the more chance she has to move on.

Of course that's all up to a judge. Is leaving the scene of an accident enough to violate Chris Brown's probation? Could he be headed to jail? Finally.

The only thing that's really clear is that two lives hang in the balance here.

Do you think it's time Chris Brown go to jail?

Image via Splash News

Memorial Day weekend is supposed to be a happy time in America, a time for remembering our heroes and eating big, juicy burgers hot off the grill. But a series of shootings in Chicago and a Texas shooting spree have put a damper on all the holiday fun. At least eight people are dead, including a child, and more are wounded, including at least one police officer. 

Is this what our soldiers died for? An America where our kids and our cops aren't safe?

According to Chicago police, the bloody weekend has a body count of six, from a 17-year-old girl shot in the head on Friday to a 42-year-old man killed in an apparent road rage incident. Also killed in various incidents -- some related to one another, some not -- were two 18-year-old men, a 29-year-old man shot in his own apartment, and another unidentified man. Another 22-some people were wounded in gun-related incidents in the Windy City this holiday weekend.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

In Texas, cops say a man went on a shooting spree on Sunday that claimed the life of one woman and injured five more, including a sheriff's deputy. The alleged shooter, a 23-year-old from North Carolina, was shot dead during an altercation with police, when they discovered he was armed with an assault-style rifle, a handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

I am not going to make this about guns.

It's so much more than that.

It's about crime in America, violence in America, about Americans whose world views are so narrow that they see criminal activity as their best and only option.

Fortunately, we live in a country where there are better options, where the chance to be better is just one good choice away. I look at other countries where families have to resort to stealing food just to feed their kids, and then I look at ours. It isn't a perfect country, but it's a pretty darn good one. We don't have to resort to violence to feed our families, don't have to bribe politicians.

We have freedoms folks in some other parts of the world only dream of -- thanks, in no small part, to the people Memorial Day weekend is all about.

And still, people throw it all away.

The people responsible for the various shootings desecrated a weekend devoted to honoring the men and women who died to give us the American dream. They took innocent lives, took the life of a CHILD.

They wasted the freedom our ancestors fought to give them.

And for what?

Are you shocked by the criminal activity on such an important weekend?

Image via gre.ceres/Flickr

From the time our kids are toddlers, we spend a serious amount of time trying to steer them away from their natural instinct to tattle on their peers. But the more that comes out about Grant Acord, the Oregon teenager arrested this week for allegedly plotting to blow up his school in a plan that has disturbing shades of the Columbine massacre of 1999, the more I wonder if we should just let them run with it.

From the way he was caught to statements made by his fellow students at West Albany High School, "tattling" could have made the difference between life and death here. Literally.

His classmates have come out to tell the media that the junior had been talking about bombsand bomb-making for weeks! Some even admitted they probably should have been more suspicious than they really were before finding out just how close they came to death.

Fortunately someone put two and two together. Acord was arrested, cops have said, after a 911 tip that led them to a stash of bombs and an arsenal of weapons under the floorboards in the 17-year-old's bedroom.

A "tattletale" likely saved countless lives.

So maybe tattling isn't such a bad thing?

According to the cops, that's exactly how these types of plots are typically stopped. Tips about suspicious internet postings or bizarre statements are reported to law enforcement, cops move in, and another Columbine is stopped in its tracks.

We're raising kids in a post 9/11 "if you see something, say something" world. If they hear something coming out of another kid's mouth that doesn't sound quite right, our kids have to feel comfortable about telling an adult, instead of getting a lecture on minding their own business or feeling like they'll be labeled a narc.

Instead of chastising them for tattling, what we need to do is teach our kids when to tell and who they should be telling. We need to arm them, so they aren't second-guessing themselves after a high school classmate is arrested for trying to blow up the school.

Do you talk to your kids about reporting fellow students' behavior?

Image via Savara (deprecated)/Flickr

You have to feel a little bit bad for Rob Kardashian these days. The baby brother of the gorgeous Kardashian sisters has been working on a very public weight loss campaign since his break-up with Rita Ora, and when the holiday weekend rolled around, he found himself in Vegas of all places. Not the best place -- or time -- for anyone on a diet.

But Rob showed off not only his slimmer physique this weekend but a new attitude about indulging that's worth following if you're trying to lose weight Kardashian-style.

He estimates he still has some 40 to 50 pounds to lose to get to his goal weight. So although he's in Sin City on a holiday weekend, Rob confessed he's skipping the drinks and sticking to healthy eats so he can stay on track.

As a fellow dieter, I raise my carrot stick in his direction. Bravo, Rob!

The holiday weekend, the vacation in a wild place, these are the stumbling blocks of dieters everywhere. It's just one weekend, you tell yourself, or well, I'm only going to be in Vegas for a few days. So you throw caution to the wind and indulge. Only there's one thing that DOESN'T stay in Vegas: the pounds you pack on over a diet-flaunting weekend.

And at the end of it all, you find yourself wondering, what was the point?

So you ate, drank, and got merry, but now you have to work twice as hard as you were before the weekend of debauchery to get that weight back off ... weight you had already lost. As much as losing weight sucks, losing weight all over again REALLY sucks.

As you can see by pictures of Rob's slimmer body from the unveiling of his Arthur George by Rob Kardashian sock line at Neiman Marcus in Vegas on Saturday, Rob has been working hard at his diet and fitness routine, and it's paying off. Why would he ruin all that hard work now, when he's come so far, and when he actually sees an end in sight?

He says he has about six months to go, which might sound like forever when you're the dieter, but is nothing in the scheme of things. No point in throwing that away for a few over-priced cocktails.

Want to cut out vacation weight gain?

You can skip alcohol, like Rob is, to prevent racking up the calories. Packing some of your own healthier treats is another good idea -- it prevents you from having to resort to hitting the hotel mini-bar (and all the candy inside). While you're on vacation, it's also advisable to continue your workouts; not only does it help you keep off the extra pounds that come from eating mostly restaurant food, but it will make it easier to transition back to working out once you get home.

Do you do what Rob does when you're out, or do you cheat?

Image via Splash News

There are so many good reasons to become an organ donor in America I wouldn't know where to start the list. And yet the story of little Sarah Murnaghan, a 10-year-old who is dying in a hospital in Philadelphia, gives me pause. Cystic fibrosis, a condition she was born with, has done a number on her lungs. She's been waiting for a lung transplant for a year and a half, but she hasn't gotten one for one simple reason: adults are being offered the lungs instead.

Some of these adults are healthier than Sarah. But it doesn't matter. Rules are rules.

Are you an organ donor? Did you know these were the rules?

According to a petition started by a family friend on Change.org to change the rules, currently the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) and United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) will only give a child first dibs on adult lungs if they're 12 years old or older. Because Sarah is 10, she has to wait in line behind adults on the list, regardless of the severity of their condition. If they all say no, then and only then could her doctors transplant the lungs into the child's body.

Now what are the chances that an adult on a lung transplant list is going to say, eh, nah, I'll pass on these lungs?

This is why a 10-year-old girl has waited for 18 months on the lung transplant list. This is why a 10-year-old girl is weeks from death. She keeps getting denied -- in favor of adults.

Sure, she could have pediatric lungs, but the chances of getting lungs from another child is even slimmer than getting a set of healthy adult lungs.

This is the truth of organ donation in America. The family's claims have been validated by doctors involved in the OPTN/UNOS process. It isn't all neat and clean.

Sometimes a person who is on the verge of death will get a life-saving transplant. Sometimes a person who isn't nearly as bad off will get the organ.

As an American who hopes to be an organ donor after death (and who is already signed on to the bone marrow registry to be a living donor should my DNA match with someone in need), I would never before have thought of a reason NOT to be a donor. Saving lives is saving lives. Who doesn't want to save lives?

Still, stories like Sarah Murnaghan's give me pause. Once you're dead, neither you nor your family have any control over where your organs end up. There's no way to say, "Hey, save a sick kid first."

I know what I'd want. I'd want my lungs to go to the little girl who has suffered for her whole life with cystic fibrosis, who deserves a chance at a real childhood, at a real life. Who wouldn't want that? Imagine putting two candidates in front of a dying woman and asking her to choose: adult who can hang on for a few more months or child who has two weeks left. Who wouldn't choose the child?

Severity of the case, then age ... with kids coming first.

From an ethical standpoint, I understand why you don't have a choice. Can you imagine the issue of bias alone? And yet, there's a part of me that is horrified at the thought that someone else gets to make a choice with a bit of my body, that someone else could bypass that child who I'd so like to save.

Sarah Murnaghan's family is working to change the rules so little kids like her won't have to go up against adults for a chance at life. I hope it works; it could comfort a lot of would-be donors to know that their deaths could benefit kids across America.

I just wish it didn't take a little girl dying to remind people to put kids first.

Are you an organ donor? Would you be want your organs to go to a kid over an adult or do you care?

Image via Change.org

Teen Mom 2 star Kailyn Lowry has a big announcement. No, she's not saying she's pregnant -- even if the rest of the world says it's so! But Kailyn is getting married.

The wedding to Javi Marroquin is back on! Aww ... some good news from Teen Mom world to report (for a change!). And it couldn't be happening to a better person.

Technically the two are already hitched; we saw them at the courthouse on MTV. But Kail and her Air Force beau have always wanted to have a "real" ceremony with friends and family.

It seemed it was all systems go for the big day up until March, when Kail ran into tax problems. Although she gets paid by MTV, Kailyn is not considered an employee. Instead she is paid as a self-employed contractor -- which means the TV network doesn't take taxes out of her paycheck. That's up to Kail (and her co-stars), and it can mean a big hit on April 15. After assessing the damage this spring, Kail put the brakes on her big wedding.

More From The Stir: Jenelle Evans Arrested for a Brand New Crime

But somehow things seem to have righted themselves. Maybe because she's now working at a dentist's office and Javi has completed basic? Or maybe the tax hit wasn't as bad as she feared it would be?

Either way, the couple is moving full steam ahead. Kail tweeted that she's looking for a salon for her bridal party, and she's booked bridesmaids fittings and tux appointments (the latter she shared with the adorable hashtag #happygirl). 

We could actually see this happy couple re-married before the summer's over. Just in time for ... another big change in their lives?

I meant moving to wherever Javi gets assigned by the Air Force people. Sheesh, what were you thinking?

What do you think made Kail put the wedding back on the front burner?

Image via Instagram

Oh to be one of Heidi Klum's kids! The supermodel mama has let slip that she pays her kids to eat healthy. Literally. They get $1 each time they drink a fruit smoothie for breakfast.

The Project Runway judge is getting the inevitable flack that comes from admitting you're a mother and you're human, but I say go mom! Parents have been bribing kids to eat their veggies for as long as anyone can remember.

More from The Stir: 13 Questionable Things We Do to Get Picky Eaters to Eat

Says Klum of her healthy eats for cash plan:

Some of my kids don’t love it so I decided I would pay them a dollar if they finish their drink. All of the money goes into their piggy banks, they have collected a bunch of money since January 1. What’s good for them is good for me as well.

Sound familiar?

Granted, we're not always so blatant about it. We don't tell the kids, "Hey, drink this, and I'll give you $1." But then, most of us don't have Heidi Klum's bankroll.

We work with what we do have, say, a kid who really wants dessert.

Is saying, "If you want that brownie, you're going to have to eat your broccoli" really any different from saying, "I'll give you $1 for that healthy drink"? They're both rewards of a sort. They're both meant to link something positive to behavior you're encouraging.

So what's the problem?

As a mom who is a vegetarian today, but was simply labeled a picky eater as a kid because I didn't want to eat meat, I get where Klum is coming from. Some kids are picky (heck, plenty of adults are picky ... when is the last time you picked the tomatoes or the pickles off a burger?!). 

You have to pick your battles as a mom. Do you want to go to war over food, possibly creating an eating disorder in the process, and definitely making meal-time unpleasant? Or do you present kids with a little incentive that paves the way to getting what you want?

It's not just about getting nutrients in their bellies. Sometimes that first pay-off is all it takes to just get a picky eater to TRY a food.

I couldn't begin to tell you the number of times my daughter has refused to eat something, only to find out she loves it once she's actually taken a bite (tacos, my mac and cheese with breadcrumb topping, spinach on pizza ...). No incentive would have meant no attempt. No attempt would have meant she'd never know how much she really loves to eat these foods.

A few "bribes" have opened up a world of foods that she will enjoy for a lifetime.

Is Klum perfectly parenting here? Nope. But you find a perfect parent, and I'll sell you a bridge in Brooklyn.

Would you bribe your kids to eat something healthy?

Image via La Grande Farmers Market/Flickr

If your kid screws up at school, the LAST thing you should do is sue the school. Right? Come on ... I said, right? Parents, it kills me that I have to say this, but it seems I have to. The father of a 16-year-old is suing the kid's high school for $40 million for having the audacity to kick him off the track team.

The nerve of these people! Dad says this has ruined the sophomore's chances to get a college scholarship. Just RUINED them!

Because, um, it's too hard to tell your kid to get his butt in gear and go out for track next year?

Hey America, this is what's wrong with our country: parents who would rather file lawsuits than parent.

Sterling High School's representatives say Mawusimensah Mears was kicked off the team for racking up too many unexcused absences. But his dad insists "participation in extracurricular activities is a right." And when his kid's "rights" are violated, he sues.

You know, I might feel a little bit more sympathy for this family if this kid suddenly saw his dreams shattered in his senior year. But Mears is 16. He's a sophomore.

He still has two more years of eligibility. That's two more years to actually try showing up to practice on time.

Wouldn't the wiser route be teaching your kid that when life throws you lemons, you get your hiney out of bed and start squeezing those bad boys into a pitcher of sugar?

Kids need to know that we have their backs, but we can't have their fronts too. They still have to put in the work to get ahead. When we push down the obstacles, the only thing they're learning is that they can lie back and the world will come to them ... which only happens at home with Mommy and Daddy. 

So if this kid wants college money, he should get off his butt and work to get back on the team, make the most of his two remaining years in high school. If not, what does his dad really gain? Maybe he gets $40 million so he can pay his college tuition, but who's he going to sue when his kid gets kicked out of college for not showing up to class?

Would you ever sue your child's school? What would it take?

Image via VitaminC9000/Flickr

After a weekend of murders that included the death of a child, cops in Chicago have announced an arrest in the death of yet another one: Jonylah Watkins, the 6-month-old baby shot back in March while her dad changed her diaper. It seems an innocent child lost her life over a stolen video game system.

Some days I wish I could just call it quits with humanity and say, "That's it, we're through. I'm dumping you." Today is one of those days.

Really? I get that criminals don't have the same logic as you and me, but a video game system? That's equal to the life of a BABY?

Only in criminal land, which is where, it turns out, little Jonylah's dad was dabbling.

Cops say Jonathan Watkins, who was hospitalized in the shooting that killed his little girl, stole the game system from their 33-year-old murder suspect, Koman Willis. When the well-known gang member with a rap sheet 38 arrests long found out, he allegedly took a gun and shot at the Watkins family, hitting little Jonylah a total of five times.

The baby's death may all rest on Willis' shoulders, but there's no denying that her dad played a role in this here. Not legally, perhaps, but as parents we have to recognize that what we do day-to-day affects our kids.

Being a criminal means involving not only yourself but your kids in crime. Now add in the aforementioned lack of logical thinking by your average criminal, and tragedies like the one that befell the Watkins family are -- sadly -- more likely to happen than they are to folks who keep their noses clean.

Jonathan Watkins didn't have to pull the trigger. He put his daughter's life in danger.

And now, sadly, he's paying for it. Physically. Emotionally. The arrest of someone else for murdering his child won't stop that.

But the story should serve as a warning to every parent out there who thinks what they do on their own time won't hurt their kids.

Do you believe the dad has some culpability here?

Image via police

With all the choices Kate Middleton has for life after the baby comes, she might have chosen the worst one possible. The Duchess of Cambridge's big-mouth uncle, Gary Goldsmith, has confessed she and the little princess or prince will be moving back in with her parents! For six whole weeks!

Oh Kate, Kate, Kate! Are you sure you want to do this? There's still time to back out, you know!

I'm not gunning for Kate's mum and dad here. I'm sure they're lovely people. They did raise her, after all. 

But I remember having visitors descend on my house just a few days after my daughter was born. They were family and very well-intentioned, but it may have been the most tense, uncomfortable stretch of my daughter's babyhood. And that was pre-colic!

Granted, the following is all anecdotal, but let me just put this out there: if you are still debating whether you should share a house with someone else right after the baby is born, reconsider! Now!

The first few weeks after a baby is born are supposed to be about finding your groove, as a new mom and as a family.

For Kate, that means it will be time to bond not just with the royal munchkin, but with the future king too, getting to know him as Wills the dad instead of Wills the husband. That's hard to do with someone else hovering over you at all times, especially when that person is his mother-in-law.

Then there's trying to figure out how to breastfeed ... with your dad always around. I know, I know, breastfeeding is not sexual. But I have yet to meet the woman who didn't feel just a wee bit different when it was her dad (or her father-in-law) seeing her uncovered. But uncovered feeding is pretty much exactly what you're doing in the beginning when you're at home and just trying to get the hang of latching.

Then there's trying to find time to relax. Not easy if you're not in your own home -- or you have someone else in your space. There were days when I wanted nothing more than to just spread myself out on my own couch and conk out while my daughter slept. But I always felt guilty doing that because someone else might want to sit there. Or watch TV in the living room!

Folks, I could keep on listing, but you get the point. Living with the parents after the baby comes might sound like a great idea in the abstract. That's no doubt why Kate Middleton, a woman who has gazillions of dollars and plenty of her servants at her disposal, would do it.

But really diving into parenthood with other people hovering around you is not all it's cracked up to be.

Want the love without the hardship? Tell them they can visit during the day, but put a time limit on it! Or let them sleep over, and then kick them out (OK, that's pretty rude ... but if they're up for a night shift, make sure you tell them it will be JUST that shift from the get-go).

Do you think Kate's plan sounds blissful or awful?

Image via Getty Images/Eamonn M. McCormack

When you hear there's a 14-year-old working on his master's degree, expecting to eventually earn a PhD in quantum physics, what words come to mind? Genius? Wunderkind?

How about non-starter? Hopeless? No?

That's what people said about Jacob Barnett when he was a little boy. When the now 14-year-old was first diagnosed with autism, his mom was told he'd never amount to anything, that he might not be able to tie his shoes, that he might not be able to read.

I think it's safe to say that's no longer an issue. What is still an issue? The stigma of autism.

Because it's still so misunderstood, the very word "autism" tends to carry with it a lot of baggage. There are myths. Misconceptions. And plain old bad information.

Diagnosis terrifies parents.

It shouldn't have to be that way.

Can having a kid on the autism spectrum be a challenge? Of course.

But when Autism Awareness Month rolled around, I noticed another movement afoot on the web. Parents of kids on the spectrum have been trying to have the month-long celebration re-titled as Autism Acceptance Month. Because to them, autism isn't something to be scared of; it's something about their kids that they celebrate.

One of the most striking comments I saw amidst the flurry of blogging about acceptance came from DeannaMC, blogger behind TravelingMonkeys.org, who was guest posting over at Thinking Person's Guide to Autism. Written two months after a child psychologist confirmed that her daughter, Madeline, was on the spectrum, DeannaMC wrote:

My daughter is autistic, and she is happy. And are we, her family, happy? Incredibly. I have written much about fear and uncertainty here and about panicking over the future. But we see now what incredible shades of privilege and ignorance we had over our eyes: that our neurotypical ideas of happiness were the only standard, and that all else would measure up and be found lacking. That she had to conform to the world to be accepted. These attitudes are not only inappropriate -- they are ableist and wrong.

When I read about Jacob's story -- it's out thanks to his mom's new book,The Spark: a Mother's Story of Nurturing Genius-- those words came flooding back to me. Here's a kid with an IQ higher than Einstein, and people were writing him off because he had autism, because he didn't fit into the cookie cutter mold.

When we have kids, we expect them to be "normal." Whatever that means.

You can't really blame a parent for thinking that way. There are so many possibilities for our kids that to anticipate them all would drive us nuts. So we tend to think inside the box, of boy meets girl, of college, of a little house with a picket fence.

And then things come along. Maybe it's a learning disorder. Or a heart murmur. Or an uncanny ability to bend the ball like Beckham. Or a brain that can rattle off the first 200-some digits of pi (Jacob Barnett can).

Or autism.

Their life might not be the one you pictured from the beginning, but that doesn't mean it will be any less exciting and wonderful. It doesn't mean you let people write your kid off.

You never know what could happen next. That's the beautiful part of being a parent.

Did the autism diagnosis make you afraid? Were people telling you that your kid would never go anywhere with his or her life?

Image via Random House

The Disney Channel has been forced to yank an episode of its show, Jessie, after the mom of two kids with celiac disease watched in horror as a child with gluten intolerance was bullied on-screen like it was a big joke. Jeez. Kids with food allergies just can't get any respect, can they?

No really. There's nothing like a good fight over peanuts to start a mommy war, but let's just leave the kids out of it, shall we?

Yes, some parents of kids with food allergies over-reach in an attempt to keep their kids safe. That's on them, and we can all debate how far parents should go until the cows come home.

But the kids themselves can't help that they have an allergy, and it behooves the rest of us to treat them with a little kindness and compassion.

Which is not what happened on the recent (and no-longer available) episode of Jessie. A little boy named Stuart who has a gluten intolerance was made to look like a demanding brat by the show's writers. Then, to make matters worse, a little girl named Zuri (who already ranked right near the top of my list of most obnoxious child characters on television BEFORE I saw a clip of the gluten debacle) starts throwing pancakes at him. Pancakes that were made with a gluten-based flour, of course.

According to mom Amy Raslevich, who started the Change.org petition that convinced Disney to can the episode, watching that happen on a TV show intended for kids was hurtful to her children.

I can see where she's coming from. The message of the scene is pretty clear: it's OK to be mean to kids who have issues with food.

Do you think that?

Do you want your kids thinking that?

Have you bothered to talk to them about it?

My kid happens to be growing up in a household with one vegetarian parent (me) and one meat-eating parent (my husband). We've never had to have a big talk about the fact that different people eat different things because we've had hundreds of small ones. No, Mommy doesn't want a piece of your steak because she doesn't eat meat. No, you can't put your bacon on the same plate as Mommy's eggs, etc.

What I didn't realize was that all those small conversations made a big difference when she got to school and started encountering kids with food allergies. So her friend B can't have red dye 40? So the boy from soccer can't have gluten? That's all normal to my kid.

I probably should have been talking about food allergies with her, but our slightly irregular lifestyle bridged the gap for us. But it wasn't until I watched the little brat chucking pancakes at a poor kid that I realized how lucky I'd gotten -- and how remiss I'd technically been in not having a specific conversation about food allergies.

Honestly, this is a conversation we all have to have with our kids, right along with the one about different lifestyles, different looks, different ... anything. If your kid had an allergy, you wouldn't want them singled out and bullied, right? So make sure your kid isn't the one doing the bullying.

Check out the Jessie clip, does it bother you? Are you glad Disney apologized?

See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.

When the FBI raided a huge child pornography service last year, they had to make a tough choice. Should the government agency shut down the site or should they leave it open and run a sting, hopefully luring in child predators who they could then prosecute to the fullest extent of the law? They chose the latter. For two full weeks, the FBI was essentially peddling child porn to the masses.

Legally, this falls in the same gray area inhabited by most undercover law enforcement operations.

Morally, it's much more complicated. In order to nab these guys, to prove that the onus is not just on the person who creates the sexually explicit imagery of children, prosecutors have to show kids are hurt again when those images are viewed. But that's exactly what happened in this case -- kids were hurt again and again over a series of weeks, as more pedophiles viewed their photos. 

Essentially, the very premise upon which people who view child porn are brought to justice is at risk here.

And what about those kids? Another piece of their dignity was stripped away with each viewing, each comment. Who knows how many lives were put at risk -- as pedophiles are known to have "favorites," kids they might try tracking down offline.

If I were the mother of a child in one of those photos, I don't know that I'd be able to accept some "ends justify the means" excuse for the FBI not taking my kid off the site immediately. Sure, maybe some pedophiles were caught, but what about my child? Is there any real end that justifies hurting a child?

It doesn't exactly help the FBI that they haven't shared much on the people caught in this mess. No one has been prosecuted publicly yet.

Maybe a huge line of predators being frog-marched into court can quell the moral outrage here. But somehow I doubt it. The child porn issue is just too fraught with emotion for this to go away.

Was the government right here or should the site have been shut down right away?

Image via Elvert Barnes/Flickr

Need some good news? I know I do! It's been nearly two months since the bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, and there's good news to report about the victims. Plenty of good news, in fact -- from survivors given the huge honor of throwing out the first pitch at Major League Baseball games to one injured high schooler being named her school's prom queen.

These highs come after one of the lowest of lows: having their lives ripped apart by terrorists on a day that should have been a celebration. Marathon Monday is an actual holiday in Boston, a day when the city takes a break to celebrate what it means to be a Bostonian. So much was taken from these people on that day.

But they are Americans. They aren't going to allow the terrorists to win.

And their triumphs in recent days are a symbol of the American spirit. Here's a look at some of the stories that have really made us grin.

Which one hits you?

Image via Twitter

There's always one bad apple who spoils the bunch, isn't there? Even in the breastfeeding mom camp, it seems. You know the one I'm talking about. She isn't just into breastfeeding her baby; she wants to share her breast milk with everyone!

Myleene Klass is one of those moms. If you haven't heard of her, it's probably because you're not British. But trust me, she is the bee's knees across the pond. And since I bring up bees, let me ask you -- what do you take in your tea? Honey? Or breast milk?

Klass has made quite the splash of late because she apparently insists that the latter is just PERFECT for your tea:

Come on, it’s normal ... I made everyone try mine. It tastes just like those probiotic yoghurt drinks. Sweet -- but not as sweet as condensed milk.

According to Klass, that's how her dad prefers his tea, so to her it's not weird at all.

Uh huh.

If her dad wants to drink her boob juice, that's all well and good.

But speaking for the rest of us who grew up with dads who went the old-fashioned "grab a gallon of cow's milk from the fridge and pour it in the cup" route, I'm going to say it. It IS weird. It's really freakin' weird.

And kind of pointless too.

Breastfeeding is fabulous for a baby because a woman's body is built to produce a food that's perfect for HER child. It's not making milk for the masses. It's making milk for her kid.

So what is WITH the women who insist on doling it out?

I'm not saying all moms do this; in fact, most I know don't. I personally have never run into a mom who wanted to pump out something for me to sip on. It's only on the Internet that I run across them. Too many of them.

And we wonder why it's still so hard to find breastfeeding acceptance? Maybe because there are some barriers that don't have to be crossed ... and ARE being broken down anyway?

These bad apples who can't just leave breastfeeding to babies are spoiling it for the rest of us. We get it, you (and maybe your dad) love the taste of breast milk. So drink it. But for heaven's sake, just keep it to yourself. You don't have to make the rest of us feel freaky because we'd prefer honey in our tea, m'kay?

Have you ever offered to share your breast milk with someone else? How did they react?

Image via Half Chinese/Flickr

Nobody really wants to think about their kid having sex, right? We all know it's going to happen at some point -- especially if we want grandkids -- but it's not like we lie in bed at night thinking about how they're going to lose their virginity. That should all be on the kid's shoulders, right? I said, right? 

All right, pop quiz time. Would you go out and rent a hotel room for your teenager so he and his girlfriend can finally lose their virginity?

My gut says no. Never. I just can't get THAT involved in my kid's life!

But one mom did just that. At 19, her son is too young to rent a hotel room, so she did it for him (with his money). She says it's "great" that he waited so long, so she had no problem helping him get his freak on.

You know, I could say to each his own and move on here. But this mom opted to share her story. She's looking for approval.

And I just can't do it.

I don't care that her son is 19 and therefore legally an adult. He's still her kid. And there are lines we don't cross with our kids, some facets of their lives that need to remain their own.

I know that one day my daughter will morph from sweet and innocent into sexual being, but that's on her. We'll talk and talk and talk some more about condoms and the pill and the right to say no and love vs. lust. But the actual big night is all up to her and her partner.

ALL of it.

It has to be that way because our sexual lives are ultra personal. They can't be decided upon by anyone else, and that includes our own parents. I just don't know when someone else is "ready" to have sex or how someone else feels deep down inside about another human being, not even my daughter.

At some point, folks, we need to cut the apron strings. Our kids will have sex, and we have to hope that we educated them well enough to do it safely. Anything more is, well, it's just too much parental involvement.

What would you have done? Would you rent a hotel room for your kid to have sex?

Image via boon chuan low/Flickr

Are you one of those people who complains that nothing exciting ever happens to them? Something tells me the people who went shopping for their bulk vitamins and mega-packs of toothpaste at a Virginia store this week will NEVER complain about that again. The shoppers became de facto witnesses to a woman being killed at Costco by cops.

Mhai Scott was the sample lady. You know, those people who set up a little station at the end of the aisle and lure your kids in with the promise of a chunk of cheese on tiny toothpicks?

According to media reports, Scott was serving up pizza when she started "acting erratically," saying "crazy things" about the servings available, before grabbing a knife from another station. Cops were called in, and tried to tase her. When it didn't work, they pulled their guns and ... well, you know the rest.

This all happened while people were IN the store! Some reported hearing four gunshots, others five, while they stood there (some ran out of their own volition but it doesn't seem like they were herded out by anyone).

It's a sad story. And a scary one for the people who just thought Wednesday afternoon was a good time to stock up on giant amounts of toilet paper.

When you go shopping, the worst you expect is some toddler who didn't get a nap having a colossal meltdown in the toy aisle. You don't expect to see the lady who just served you a bite-size portion of something shot in the middle of the store.

I've never seen anything quite that crazy. Not even Black Friday shopping!

It's hard to say whether the deputies were right or wrong here. It was a store full of families, but I wasn't there; I don't know why they pulled their guns, and why they decided that lethal force was the way to go. Does it sound strange? Sure, but so far the Loudon County Sheriff's Department is saying this was a clean operation.

Still, it's a bit ... unnerving? If it was that bad, if cops had to do something this aggressive, then clearly lives were in serious danger here. At a COSTCO! NEAR THE SAMPLES!

It doesn't get more "safe" sounding than that, does it? Most of us let our kids traipse on over there to get a little cup of something so they'll just be quiet and let us finish shopping (well, except my husband -- he forbids our daughter from taking samples, and suddenly I'm thinking he might be right ... what was in that pizza?).

I guess it's just another sad story that goes to show we're never as safe as we hope to be.

What's the scariest thing you've ever seen while out shopping?

Image via r. nial bradshaw/Flickr