The last two weeks have been all about standardized testing, as far as my kids are concerned.

My third grade daughter spent last week taking TCAP tests. My kindergarten son is taking the SAT-10 this week.The stakes for these tests seem much higher than they were when we were kids, and across the country parents are responding by calling for change and even opting their children out of standardized testing entirely.

A few writers from The Stir got together today in a Moms Matter Google Hangou to discuss standardized testing. One has even pulled her child from her neighborhood's public school specifically because of the focus on standardized tests. Here's the video discussion --

Imagine you're considered to be a top contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

Now imagine your own mother is telling the world she really doesn't think you should run.

That's exactly what just happened to Jeb Bush. In a Today show interview Thursday, Barbara Bush said that although she believes Jeb is the most qualified candidate, "We've had enough Bushes."

Do you agree with her?

Making the rounds on Facebook today is a totally asinine article from the Wall Street Journal, called 'The Mommy Business Trip.'

In it, writer Katherine Rosman manages to reduce popular women's blogging, lifestyle and crafting conferences to a way for stay-at-home moms to party without their husbands or kids-- and by "party," I mean, sleep late, dance, tweet, and most importantly, raid the minibar.

In case you're having trouble visualizing such debauchery, the WSJ helpfully provided a graphic, with drawings of these so-called moms, all of whom appear to be visiting our planet from the year 1983.

The online version also includes a video interview with Rosman, who can barely conceal her eyerolls as she describes some of the most popular conferences, including Mom 2.0, which is taking place next week (and where our own Tracy Odell is speaking).

Predictably, bloggers are going public with their fury. See what they have to say after the jump.

The testimony paints a picture worse than any horror movie plot:

-An abortion clinic infested with rats and smelling of cat urine, its basement filled with bags full of biohazardous material.

-A doctor, Kermit Gosnell, who allegedly illegally performed third trimester abortions, and allegedly cut infants' spinal cords with scissors if they were alive when he extracted them.

-Drains clogged with tiny body parts.

-Dirty operating equipment that wasn't washed between procedures.

-A patient who died after an overdose of anesthetic.

It's the kind of trial that reads like front page news -- but even though it's been going on now for five weeks, mainstream media has just now begun covering it.

And many are asking why.

President Obama's recently-released 2014 budget includes an initiative that would provide universal preschool to low- and moderate-income 4-year-olds.

"That's nice," you're saying, "but how does he expect to pay for all that?"

Simple.

Obama wants to raise the federal tax on tobacco products.

I'm not generally a fan of raising taxes, but this plan sounds pretty good to me -- how about you?

Do you swear in front of your kids?

Jacqueline Burt wrote a post defending cursing in front of kids here on The Stir recently, and it generated a LOT of conversation.

So for this week's Moms Matter Google Hangout, we decided to ask other writers from The Stir if they agree with Jacqueline. See what they had to say after the jump!

The Newtown tragedy was one of our nation's darkest days, and for moms, news reports about the shootings were especially difficult to take. After all, those children could have been our children. That school could have been our neighborhood school. Those teachers could have been our kids' teachers.

For days afterward, I walked around in a funk, crying at the slightest provocation. And as it turned out, I was far from alone. Across the country, thousands upon thousands of moms were reacting the very same way -- and today, as a result of that feeling, a nationwide organization of moms has formed that's dedicated to making sure a tragedy like Newtown never happens again.

Check out our Moms Matter video report after the jump. Then tell us in the comments if you think these moms could -- or should -- make a difference when it comes to gun control laws in America.

The Steubenville teen rape trial is over, but it's still getting passionate reaction on the Internet, including many posts and op-eds from women who are sharing their own teen experiences for the very first time.

For our latest Moms Matter Hangout, four writers from The Stir got together online to talk about Steubenville, why it has struck a chord with the American public, and how we plan to use it as a lesson for our own children when they're teens.