Blog Posts by The_Stir

Spousonomics, a new book by Paula Szuchman and Jenny Anderson, applies the basic principles of economics to having a happier marriage. The two women, journalists, wives, and moms view a marriage as its own little economy with a "finite number of resources that need to be allocated efficiently."

From division of labor to incentives to supply and demand, all that college economics started flooding back into my post-collegiate brain. Whew, I almost fainted. But the more I read, the more sense their hypotheses made.

More from The Stir: Website Helps You Marry a Rich (Obviously Stupid) Man

For example, let's look at the idea of division of labor. The authors say this concept should lead us to split up the tasks in our domestic lives according to what each spouse is good at, relative to other tasks. Spouses shouldn't be so focused on making sure that all tasks are divided up evenly.

Take how the division of labor works in my house:

I work part-time and my husband works

Some believe meat is murder, while others try to murder WITH meat ... or at least do some serious damage with it. While food typically nurtures our bodies and souls, it can also do some serious damage when used as a weapon.

More from The Stir: Fast food meals that don't live up to their ads

That's right, food crimes go beyond what KFC and Denny's do to sandwiches to actual crimes that could land someone in jail. Here are five of the freakiest food crimes that give food safety a whole new meaning.

Assault With a Steak

Earlier this month, Edna Verdin was arrested for aggravated battery after whacking her boyfriend in the face with a frozen steak. She was apparently pissed that some of her booze wouldn't fit in the freezer and took it out on him. He was left bleeding, but survived.

Assault by Cheetos

Domestic assault charges were filed in 2009 against a couple whose weapon of choice was Cheetos. Yes, really. James Earl Taylor and Mary S. Childers became

The Surgeon General's Call to Action about breastfeeding noted that family members -- especially dads and grandmas -- were important people in a new mother's life. They needed to have the opportunity to learn just as much about breastfeeding as the new mom ... and needed to learn how to support her in a way that helped her continue breastfeeding.

More from The Stir: Banking your amniotic fluid? Don't make me laugh

While a dad can't breastfeed (no matter how much we wish he could), he does play a large part in a mom's breastfeeding journey. Yet, dad often doesn't know what to do to be supportive.

I can help! We can help! Send this to the soon-to-be or new fathers that you know, send it to your own husband -- the new dad or dad-to-be.

Dear husband to breastfeeding mom: follow this 10-step guide to help your wife feel the support she needs when breastfeeding.

1. Be active and vocal in your support. Know that your wife generally values your opinion over her own

Shaken baby syndrome is the tragic result of a specific kind of child abuse that has happened all too often over the past few decades. And now some doctors are calling it into question.

More from The Stir: Banking your amniotic fluid? Don't make me laugh

Shaken baby syndrome occurs when a baby is shaken violently, causing bleeding and swelling in the brain. It can cause death, blindness, and a host of other horrifying disabilities. According to The New York Times:

Shaken baby syndrome has specific internal

oystersI really, really hate oysters. They are so slimy. They are so ugly. They don't even taste good -- in fact, you don't even taste them at all. Instead you shoot them down your throat so fast you don't even get a chance to taste them. The best thing about oysters is their capacity for carrying a really delicious sauce. I've never had an ounce of sympathy for the oyster. Until I found out that they are, for all intents and purposes, extinct.

More from The Stir: Live Foods You Can Eat While They're Still Kicking!

Between disease and overharvesting, oyster populations have dropped dramatically in recent years, to the point where they can technically be considered an extinct population.

Why should you care? There's always oyster farming, right?

Right. There is always oyster farming. And don't think it's not in full swing. The French have been eating almost exclusively farmed oysters since the 1700s. There's no reason we shouldn't be doing the same. And, recognizing that

A psychology research team at the University of Virginia has scientifically proven that all women are nuts. It's not our fault, though, it's just who we are. (Don't you wish that was a real excuse in today's world?)

Using Facebook and the emotions of college-aged girls, lead-writer Erin Whitchurch told the ladies that four cute college guys had looked at their profiles and ranked them according to how interested they were in the girl. Then the girls were told that a) the boys gave them high ratings, b) the boys gave them low ratings, or c) the researchers couldn't divulge what the guys thought.

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And guess which group of guys piqued the girls' interest.

No, it wasn't the guys who liked them. That would be too easy! How lovely a world that would be -- guys like the girls and girls like them back.

The girls reported that they found themselves thinking about the mystery men more than the others.

Digital PermBack in junior high, I was the queen of the bad perm.

I would get up at 5 every morning just so that I could wash my permed hair and scrunch, scrunch, scrunch. By the time I was done, I had added a good five inches to my height with my hair alone!

Looking back, the pictures are horrifying. By tenth grade, my friends had staged a permavention and I'd agreed to never perm my hair again.

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But now, there's something new in the world of permanent waves. It's called a digital perm and it has me rethinking my no-perm promise ...

The digital perm was developed in Japan and it's been a big hit in Asian countries, as well as in Asian salons here in the states.

Lately, though, its popularity is starting to spread. Unlike '80s perms, which created tight waves, digital waves create looser waves that mimic curls you'd get from hot rollers or a curling iron.

After a consultation to make sure your

google wedding
Paper: It's so 20th centuryNot satisfied to only put AOL and MapQuest out of business, Google has launched a wedding site to help you out on your big day. Forget the wedding planner, you can organize everything from the cake to the honeymoon online at Google Weddings.

More from The Stir: Google wants you to eat it

If you're the type that would rely on a paid person outside of your family to get all the details right on your wedding day, this tool will save you thousands of dollars. Every last guest name, and dollar spent on centerpieces, can be organized thanks to the latest Google feature to make your life easier and more transparent. And of course, you'll get help putting together your wedding website, which has become a newly engaged couple's rite of passage.

While I'm all about cutting corners and not breaking the bank for one day out of your life, I can't help but think that there could be some mishaps, perhaps, as a result in relying on Google to get everything