Blog Posts by Lylah M. Alphonse, Senior Editor, Yahoo! Shine

"I always thought that mother's day was great, but it always felt like something was missing," Julianna W. Miner, who blogs at Rants from Mommyland, told Yahoo! Shine. Presents are great, but what she really wanted wasn't something that her husband and three kids could give her -- it was something that could only come from other moms. "Other moms understand that motherhood is a tough and wonderful job," Miner explained. "I wanted someone to see me and tell me that it was enough. That even though I was not doing everything right, that my efforts counted." Figuring that plenty of women might feel the same way, Miner teamed up with e-card and gift company Naughty Betty to create Mother's Day cards to honor all moms and say what they really want for Mother's Day. The cards are more than just clever -- they also support a good cause: If people share the free e-cards in time for Mother's Day, SweetRelish.com will donate up to $10,000 to Shelter House, a safe haven for homeless families and

Crickett rifles come in a range of colors and are made especially for kids. (Photo: Crickett.com)The company that makes real guns for children has taken down its website after a 5-year-old boy in southern Kentucky allegedly shot his 2-year-old sister by accident with a Crickett gun he received for his birthday.

Also on Shine: New Ads Contrast School Bans and Gun Regulations, 'Little Red Riding Hood' and AR-15s

While giving a kid a gun at all seems outrageous to people along the coasts of the United States, in many, often rural, parts of the country, learning how to shoot at a very early age is a normal part of life.

“People learn how to shoot before they learn how to read,” Jeff Booher, 53, told The New York Daily News. The Cumberland County, Kentucky, resident said that he taught his own kids (now ages 22, 12, and 9) how to use a gun when they were just 4 or 5 years old.

Also on Shine: I'm Scared of Guns. So I Decided to Learn How to Shoot One

Crickett's "My First Rifle" and other firearms are made by Keystone Sporting Arms, a father-and-son-owned gunmaker that has been selling

Troubled? Sure. But bimbo? What is this, junior high?The New York Post isn't exactly known for hard-hitting journalism or high ethical standards.  So it really shouldn't come as a surprise that they'd set up a "news" story about Lindsay Lohan by calling her a bimbo. This is, after all, a publication that spent the better part of a decade calling Monica Lewinsky a "Portly Pepperpot." (What does that even mean?)

Also on Shine: How to Bimbo-Proof Your Daughter

The latest article (written by three male staffers) was headlined "Loopy Lohan on the Lam" and also describes the troubled actress as whiny and dramatic. But it's the first sentence -- "Be on the lookout for this bimbo" -- crosses the line.

Granted, Lohan has made a spectacular, spiraling descent from child star to tabloid fodder, but still… 'Bimbo?' What is this, junior high school...circa 1950? The term is a relic of 20th century slut-shaming, when a young women's hair color was enough to brand her as nothing more than a sex object. The term propagated the myth (or fetish) that a

Would you pay $529 to be at this wedding? (Photo: Getty Images)According to an American Express survey of 1,518 people, guests will spend an average of $539 per wedding this year—and that's just to attend the event, not to be a member of the wedding party. The wallet-busting figure is up $200 from 2012, when guests reported shelling out an average of $329 on clothes, hotel rooms, and gifts.

Also on Shine: Alone at a Wedding? The Author of 'Singles' Can Help

The real cost is probably even higher given the estimates for some of the costs. The credit card company says that guests will budget just $57 for new clothes, $27 for a babysitter or pet sitter, and $95 for a hotel room—all of which seems astoundingly low, even for a local event. Members of the bridal party can count on spending a little bit more, thanks to slightly higher clothing costs: about $577 per wedding, according to American Express.

Also on Shine: What Guys Hear When You Speak 'Bride'

Wedding-industry experts say that's definitely on the cheap side. With destination weddings, bridal

We can't even imagine. (Photo: Getty Images)In a move that makes "Mommy Dearest" Joan Crawford look positively saintly, a woman in the United Kingdom has been charged with forcing her 14-year-old daughter to go through artificial insemination so that the mom could have another child.

British High Court judge Peter Jackson said that the mother, a divorced American woman with three adopted children, had a health condition and opted years before not to give birth herself. She tried to adopt a fourth child and was denied, so she came up with "a wicked and selfish" plan to get another baby to raise, the judge said.

The mother, who was not identified, bought sperm from a Denmark-based company over the Internet, and ordered her oldest adopted daughter, then just 14 and a virgin, to inseminate herself with a syringe. One time, she had a man come by the house to provide a donation, the court documents reveal.

According to court papers released on Monday, the teen, identified only as "A," was shocked by her mother's plan but felt obligated

Swaddling can be beneficial for babies -- as long as you do it correctly. (Photo: Getty Images)Two California caregivers were arraigned last week on child abuse charges for swaddling seven babies so tightly that the children had trouble breathing. Now parents around the country are wondering whether they could be harming their own children by trying the age-old calming technique.

Also on Shine: Should I Stop Swaddling?

Nazila Sharaf, 35, and Lida Sharaf, 33, are facing three counts of felony child abuse and neglect and four counts of misdemeanor child abuse and neglect. The babies they had swaddled were 7 months to 1 year old -- well beyond the age for which swaddling is recommended. They also tied the blankets with what the police described as "heavy-duty knots" rather than simply tucking and folding the cloth around the babies, making it nearly impossible for the children to move their arms and legs. And they occasionally threw blankets over the children's faces after they were were swaddled, increasing their risk of suffocation, police said.

Social services discovered the

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were hailed as "Mr. and Mrs. Country Music," a title that they even painted across the side of their tour bus in the early 1970s. But the marriage was the stuff classic country songs are made out of: hard drinking, loud arguments, and broken hearts. Wynette died in her sleep in 1998, at age 55. Jones passed away on Friday after being hospitalized for a fever and irregular blood pressure, according to his publicists. He was 81.

Little Richard (left) poses with Tammy Wynette and George Jones in  1972. (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Their relationship had a dramatic start. Both Wynette and Jones were married to other people when they fell in love while on tour in the late 1960s. According to The New York Times, in 1968 Wynette was arguing with her husband, songwriter Don Chapel, in their dining room when Jones showed up, flipped over the dining room table, and told Wynette that he loved her. She took her three children and left with Jones that night.

Nudie Cohen (left) with George Jones and Tammy Wynette at Nudies Rodeo Tailors in 1973. (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

People often think that Wynette's hit song, "Stand By Your Man," was about her tumlutous relationship to George

Some employees at Rapid Realty are getting logos inked on. (Photo: Rapid Realty via Twitter)Real estate agents at a New York-based broker are showing their company pride — and getting an extra 15 percent in commission — by having their company's logo tattooed onto their bodies.

Also on Shine: Some Temporary Tattoos Leave Permanent Scars

Thirty-seven men and women at Rapid Realty have gotten the green-and-black "Double R" tattoos so far, the company's CEO and founder, Anthony Lolli, told Inman News.

Related: Celebrity Tattoos Gone Wrong

“They wear it like a badge of honor,” said Lolli, who is also a real estate agent in their South Park Slope office. “They get a lot of respect from the other agents with the amount of commitment that they have.”

There are other benefits as well: "Talk about marketing — they're walking billboards!" he tweeted.

On Facebook, Rapid Realty has a photo album filled with pictures of their "brand ambassadors" getting inked. The designs range from tiny ankle tattoos and behind-the-ear ink to body art that blends in with existing sleeves and bold logos on