The Best of the Rest of the Web: Men are Faster Diaper Changers, Nobody’s Normal, & a Viral Video about Bullying

From our February issue, a selection of thought-provoking, laugh-inducing, and just plain interesting thoughts from the web and the world of parenting.

The Happiness Equation?

“Despite upbeat popular media portrayals of single moms by choice who forgo marriage to bear children alone, actual research suggests that women raising children with their children’s fathers are happier.”

I love it when people refer to ‘research’ as if that alone will validate claims. As a single mother by choice, who also has a small measure of my child’s father’s involvement in our lives, I can tell you that it would be infinitely easier if I did this completely on my own. The one weekend a month my son spends with his dad always causes more discord than ‘happiness,’ and I often wish that I had chosen an anonymous donor. As for married couples raising their children together, if I get told by one more married mom that she ‘feels like a single mom’ because she does all of the work alone anyway, or if I yet again hear ‘if it weren’t for the kids I’d get a divorce and make myself happy for a change,’ I’m going to start wondering where all of this scientific ‘research’ actually comes from.

“Men are clinically proven to be faster diaper changers than women, but women actually do it right.”

Not Just for Grandparents

“You think about your grandkids endlessly. You  tell everybody you meet—including the supermarket cashier and the cabdriver—how cute it is when they suck spaghetti through their missing teeth. You post pictures of them all over… Is it abnormal? Is it unhealthy? Should you be worried? Whatever ‘normal’ is, nobody’s it.”

JONAH MOWRY COULD BE ANYONE

Back in December, a video on YouTube went viral and continues to stir conversation across the web and media months later. In it, 14-year-old Jonah Mowry (pictured above) vividly shares his pain about being bullied every day in school, considering suicide, self-injuring, and more. His video has gotten more than a million hits, and countless others have posted direct responses challenging his honesty, offering support, and echoing the pain of his experience. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should.

Somehow we didn’t see the coverage on 20/20 or Good Morning, America or read about it on Perez Hilton—rather, we saw it posted on Good Enough Mother, a blog by Rene Syler, who lives with her two children and husband in Westchester (thanks, Rene). Check out her blog to offer your own thoughts and link to the video, and for so much more about her own parental experiences; and go to www.childmind.org/SuicideHotline to read about Facebook’s and Google’s efforts to partner with the National Suicide Prevention Hotline and offer support to those showing signs for being at-risk.