Mother's Day is back, and it's bigger than ever. Americans are expected to spend between $17.1 billion and $20.7 billion on mom this year. It's pretty clear America loves mom and Mother's Day. Or do we?

This year there's been a backlash like never before against the decades-old holiday. Turning the second Sunday in May into a day for moms has been called out as everything from insensitive to non-parents to torture for folks with absent moms.

Oh man, a wave of standardized tests just hit our school kids the past few weeks. For some parents and kids, it's a nightmare. You may have read Lindsay Ferrier's post on her daughter's test stress and the Google Hangout conversation on school testing we had last week. It seems like every year, more and more parents are saying, "Let us off this crazy ride!" Well, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan admitted last week that he gets it. He said the criticism about testing "is merited."

Duncan says he and his department are "spending a huge amount of time listening to ideas" about how to transition to the Common Core Standards. But ditching assessments is not one of those ideas -- he says testing will still happen. He's open to support "much better assessment," though. So what are they? Here are a few better school assessment ideas different education experts are pushing.

Big news for moms this week. A new study says today's young people are "more materialistic" and less likely to work and study hard than any generation of kids before them. Moms! Could we be raising the lazy generation?

That's what a study published this week in the in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin says. The researchers claim "youth materialism" is at "historically high levels." And just wait till you hear what this could do to the job market.

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 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.

I've done a LOT of stories for Moms Matter, but this one has got to be my all-time favorite.

Twelve-year-old Abigail Kidd was born with Down Syndrome, and a host of other major medical problems. The doctors said she wouldn't live past the age of 1. Not only did she prove them wrong, she recently earned a spot on her school's basketball team -- and at the first game, well, you won't believe your eyes.

Click through to see the unforgettable video.

After suffering for nine long years, paralyzed veteran turned activist Tomas Young, 33, has decided to refuse any more water, nourishment, or medication -- in other words, to let himself die. His story of sacrifice and suffering is absolutely heartbreaking and brings home the reality not just of what so many men and women have to endure when they go to fight wars, but the terrible cost to their families.

My daughter was born the day the Iraq war started, and every year for the past 10 years, the occasion that is most joyous to me has also reminded me of the suffering happening across the ocean, for people on both “sides.” And, of course, of the pain endured here at home by our returning veterans, their families, and the families of those who never come home at all. Today, reading about Young’s story, I’m reminded of that all over again -- but it is his mom’s words that truly break my heart:

A military mom in Washington state is up for a big honor. Ever since 2008, the Armed Forces Insurance company has handed out an award for Military Spouse of the Year, and one of 2013's nominees is Lori Volkman, a mom and writer married to a Navy pilot who at one point was deployed for a year and a half. What makes Lori stand out? She started a blog called Witty Little Secret -- A Deployment Diary of Another Sort. In it, she shares relatable stories that most spouses of military people will read and say to themselves, Yup. Been there.

Here are some of the best excerpts from Lori's blog.