We're often asked what our days are like, and, because a FAQ can only say so much, we figured that this Thursday would provide a great opportunity to celebrate the "holiday" by liveblogging the details of our day. (Shorter: Unwashed clothing; artery-clogging lunches; complaining; bad jokes.)

How it'll work: All of us (including some of our contributors), will post short missives on our work Twitter accounts for the entirety of our work day. Those interested in following our progress can follow (and respond) via their Twitter accounts.

We're not promising anything revolutionary - or even remotely interesting - hell, it'll probably be a horrific disappointment. But we hope you'll join in, if only to stop and admire the wreckage.

Below, links to our work Twitter accounts:

•Anna
•Dodai
•Tracie
•Megan
•Sadie</>
•Margaret
•Tatiana
•Anna North
•Hortense
•Katy

See you Thursday?

*Boys also allowed.

Related: Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work [Official Site]
Earlier: Jezebel FAQ: You Ask, We Answer

Atterbury says that women should never, ever tell the men they love that they love them because men are all emotionally stunted creatures scared of commitment and other people's emotions and doing so will more or less inevitably end your burgeoning relationship and all your hopes of marriage, really.

And the truth is, it often takes men longer to get there than it does for women. Men process their emotions more slowly, they're usually more cautious about taking their feelings and relationships to the next level.

So what happens if you get there first and you say it and he's not there yet? What happens when your "I love you" is met with a "thank you," or worse, a dear-in-headlights look? Well, it stings, sure, but more than that, it can stop a perfectly happy and healthy relationship in its tracks before it's even too far from the station.

So, to keep your relationship intact, a little dishonesty is in order! Swallow your tongue, not your pride! A lie of omission isn't a lie! Stereotypes exist for a reason! You've read The Rules, right?

Ack! Enough already! Look, yes, if the only reason you're telling your partner that you love him or her is to elicit an expression of similar emotion from your partner, I agree, don't do it. Also, refrain from doing it naked in bed after good sex or drunk, when you are not going to be operating at full rational capacity. That said, if you love someone, fucking tell them. Say it to your parents. Tell your best friend. Call your grandmother or grandfather. Of the things you will regret in life, not expressing your depth of emotion for someone for whom you honestly have it will rank up there because unexpected horrible things happen every day.

And, if he or she doesn't say it back, so what? Do you no longer love that person? Do you love only when it's reciprocated? If you mean it, if you can look at the situation honestly and say that you love this person without hesitation or doubt, if it's not about the sex or trying to tie them down, then don't play stupid games with your heart or theirs. If the person runs, or freaks out, you probably weren't going to hear it "first" anyway — and if you catch yourself wanting to say it or blurting it out two weeks into every relationship (oh hai JOHN!), then maybe you need to go figure out the difference between love and infatuation before you say it again to someone.

But this BS game of playing by some stupid set of gendered dating rules in which men can only deal with pursuing and not with being pursued and can't handle women's overwrought emotions without freaking out and running away and women should let men make all the emotional leaps and jumps off of all the ledges and wait for them to come around needs to stop being perpetuated by women and by men. I'm sick of hearing how men can't be mind-readers but women should never be honest. Telling someone that you love them isn't or shouldn't be about emotional blackmail or hearing it back any more than you should be giving holidays gifts expecting reciprocation. Love is a gift, too. If so

[Note: I asked my father and brother-in-law their opinions, and my dad called Atterbury's advice "foolish" and said he would never tell me to do such a thing, and my (younger) brother-in-law said that it sounded stupid and that "People should be honest with their emotions."]

Why Women Shouldn't Say "I Love You" First [CNN]

Image generated from The Candy Heart Generator at Despair, Inc.

Related: Best Women Bloggers of 2008 [The Frisky]

Basically, if you act like you trust you kid to make good choices and have open lines of communication where they don't feel like they have to lie, then they'll spend some of their energy trying to live up to that respect. If you give them a rule book, they'll just run around trying not to get caught breaking it. And, naturally, if you act like you don't care what they do, they won't either.

Look, if your teenager has responsible sex (and they will have some kind of sex) it isn't the end of the world — and it shouldn't be. It might not be in line with your moral judgment, you might think they are too young, whatever. I know my parents weren't (and probably still aren't, lo these many years later) happy about it. On the other hand, if your kid can't talk to you about it, or come to you for comfort and support because they've broken your rules and are so scared of punishment that they can't turn to you when they really need you, then you're neither keeping them from making a mistake nor helping them learn from it. And from someone who used to be a kid who couldn't in a million years talk to her parents, that just sucks.

What the Dating Rules You Set For Your Kids Say About You [Wall Street Journal]

"Talk", of course, is the operative word here. Nyhan stresses the importance of not just tossing a young daughter a flippant, "You're beautiful just the way you are!" but actually asking her how she feels, and what makes her feel that way. But if you ask me, taking a vested interest in her life outside her weight is just as important.

When I was growing up, my dad never told me what I could and couldn't do, but he did let me know that he thought that, in his opinion, YM magazine portrayed women as stupid. (Not to mention trashy.) My dad's opinions meant something to me. I never read YM. When I was growing up, my dad talked to me non-stop about his love of the music of Diana Ross, Laura Nyro, Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, and Carole King. My dad's opinions meant something to me. That was the music I listened (and still listen) to, and those were the women I thought were really cool. But most importantly, both of my parents didn't sit down and drill me about my "body image" — they were too busy asking me my opinions on what was going on in the news, what I was learning in school and nurturing everything from my interest in politics to my love of musicals. And guess what? I was too interested in life to be interested in what I weighed. Mr. Nyhan, buy your daughter a copy of "Tapestry" and once she's old enough to speak, sit her down in front of the evening news with you: She'll turn out okay, I promise.

Dads Can Do Plenty To Help Their Daughters With Image Issues [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]