Entertainment
How Do You Introduce a New Partner to Your Kids?
On this chilly Monday, I’m hoping to ask a personal question to this wise and wonderful community: Do you have any advice on how to introduce kids to a new partner after getting divorced?
Freddie and I have been dating for about six months, and I’d love for the boys to meet him. As I’ve mentioned, he’s a high school history teacher with two boys of his own, and he’s really funny and sweet. We’ve talked about meeting each other’s children, but my kids are pretty sensitive to the idea of my dating. (I mean, your mom is your mom!) So, when the time feels right, I would love to have a loose, gentle plan in place.
Three notes for myself:
1. No PDA, of course!!!
2. Keep it quick, maybe a half hour? For the first meeting, short feels good.
3. Maybe Freddie can bring his dog to help break the ice.
As for the hang itself, Freddie could always come to our house, so the boys would be on their home turf and could go to their rooms if they craved a break, or we could meet in “neutral territory,” like our favorite ice cream shop or the neighborhood park with basketball hoops. Also, since they’re hesitant, we could wait a few more months to make the introduction, although it might settle their nerves to realize that Freddie’s a nice chill dad, not some scary looming figure?
It’s funny, during my 15 years of parenting, I’ve typically been able to trust my gut or read books to see what resonates, but now again something will throw me for a loop — and this big step is doing just that. I briefly mentioned my nerves in this Big Salad newsletter issue, and a few readers generously shared their own experiences:
“I introduced my two girls to my boyfriend last summer — we met for an afternoon walk, fed some ducks (I know, I know), and got ice cream. The fact that your guy is a teacher and a dad will help. Knowing kids and how to best approach them (sometimes by not approaching them) is key.” — Brittani
“I was in the same situation a year ago. My boyfriend came over to kill a spider (a black widow, so genuinely scary). He came over, introduced himself to my son, killed the spider and left. The whole visit lasted five minutes, and my son saw him as a helper and a hero. So, then when he came up in conversation a day later, my son was open to him joining us for a short outing.” — Katie
“I asked my 13-year-old how she wanted to meet my boyfriend, and she said, ‘Can he just come inside and say hey?’ He did that, and then a few weeks later, we went out to dinner and played cards. We let her pick where to eat. They developed a great relationship, and what helped is that she got to choose. It was my first relationship post-divorce, and she later told me, ‘It wasn’t not him, it was the idea of him.’” — Marlena
“My dearest friend is in a serious relationship with a dad of two boys, and her partner’s idea was SO GOOD: He’d told his kids a few things about her, and she eventually came over to their house to help them all rake leaves one afternoon. There was a clear, collaborative, low-stakes task, so the focus wasn’t on MEET THIS PERSON (or even conversation at all), and the boys were on their own turf and could choose their own engagement and proximity level throughout.” — Hillary
Thoughts? I’d be so grateful for any tips or wisdom. Thank you much, as always. xoxoxoxo Also, speaking of new partners, this line from my friend Erika’s newsletter made me lol:
P.S. Five things that surprised me about divorce, and the script we used to tell our kids we were getting divorced.
(Photo by Cara Dolan/Stocksy. The opening photo makes me wonder if Freddie, like Sally, will ask, “Is one of us supposed to be a dog in this scenario???”)
Entertainment
This $10 upgrade transforms your PC — but it’s only on sale until midnight
TL;DR: Upgrade a PC affordably with this Microsoft Windows 11 Pro license, on sale for just $9.97 (reg. $199) through tonight at midnight.
Want to get the feeling of a new computer without having to shell out all the money for one? A new operating system gives your device a whole new feel, and if you’ve got a PC lying around, it could probably use this Microsoft Windows 11 Pro upgrade. If you act fast, you can get it for only $9.97 through tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Windows 11 Pro breathes new life into an old computer, extending its lifespan for less than the cost of your lunch. Unlike older operating systems, this one was made with the modern professional in mind.
Mashable Deals
Rest easy knowing Windows 11 Pro is filled with features that can improve your workflow — from an easy-to-use interface that enhances usability to snap layouts, seamless redocking, a more powerful search experience, and improved voice typing.
Take advantage of unique professional tools like Azure AD, Hyper-V, Windows Sandbox, and BitLocker device encryption. Then take a break and check out the impressive gaming experience offered by DirectX 12 Ultimate graphics.
Windows 11 Pro includes Copilot, Microsoft’s very own AI-powered assistant, which can assist you with a wide range of tasks. Get some help kickstarting your writing process, summarizing web pages, changing your settings, or even opening your apps.
You can also enjoy improved cybersecurity with Windows 11 Pro, as it adds biometric logins, encrypted authentication, and enhanced antivirus protection.
Mashable Deals
Get your PC a Microsoft Windows 11 Pro license for only $9.97 tonight through midnight.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Entertainment
3 AdultFriendFinder red flags — how to avoid scams on AFF
Depending on who you ask, AdultFriendFinder is either the Wild West of hookup sites, an “anything goes” paradise for adult fun, or a total scam replete with bots, fake profiles, and inactive accounts.
After months of personal testing, I can confidently say which AFF you experience ultimately boils down to how you use the site. If you approach it naively, without a strategy, you’re probably going to have some frustrating experiences. On the other hand, if you exercise a modicum of caution and common sense, you’ll discover a huge, fun, and kink-friendly community.
Here are three red flags to look out for as you use AFF, to help you spot potential scammers and separate the authentic users from the fake profiles.
Hookup apps for everyone
AdultFriendFinder
—
readers’ pick for casual connections
Tinder
—
top pick for finding hookups
Hinge
—
popular choice for regular meetups
Credit: AdultFriendFinder
Unverified accounts
AdultFriendFinder already offers a fantastic first step in combatting fake profiles that they call ConfirmID. Once you’ve created an account, you can, at any time, upload a clear scan of a government-issued ID card and then, using a webcam, undergo a quick face verification scan to confirm that you are indeed the person identified in the government document.
This step strikes the perfect balance between not being onerous enough to annoy the average user but still requiring enough effort to deter scammers, who notoriously go after the low-hanging fruit.
Mashable Trend Report
Once you’ve completed the ConfirmID sequence, you’ll be rewarded with a verification badge on your profile, and we strongly recommend that you limit your one-on-one interactions on the site to other verified users.
Perfect profile photos
Alright, admittedly this one requires some personal judgment, as everyone should strive to upload good, high-quality photos of themselves to dating websites. But if every photo looks like it belongs in a magazine, or if the person in the photo looks a little too good to be true, you should exercise caution.
In the age of generative AI and filters, it’s trivially easy to create a fake photo or series of photos, so you should also be on the lookout for what isn’t in the photos. Are there recognizable local landmarks (clubs, restaurants, well-known parks, or street corners) in the photos, or are they all equally generic?
Over-eager chatters
Ever since chat bots became a thing, dating sites have become plagued with them, and as AI improves more and more, it’s not always easy to know, right away, if the “person” you’re talking to is really human. One dead giveaway, though, is how much they chat and how quickly they reply.
Real people go off on tangents, employ non sequiturs, and sometimes stumble with awkward questions or comments. Chat bots, on the other hand, are typically always chipper and extremely fast-talking, so much so that a paragraph-long answer can come back to you in seconds.
They also almost always have an agenda, too, whether that’s directing you to click on a link (“Follow my Instagram profile”) or getting you to divulge some potentially compromising bit of personal information about yourself.
Entertainment
SNL opens with another Pete Hegseth press conference
Saturday Night Live returned from a brief hiatus Saturday with a cold open depicting a joint press conference between Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and FBI Director Kash Patel, with “Master of None” creator Aziz Ansari playing the latter.
Colin Jost’s Hegseth hit the familiar beats at the podium — performative machismo, military bravado, and repeated jabs at the secretary’s well-documented drinking habits. This time, Hegseth arrived at the mic hauling an oversized pitcher of scotch, which he assured the room was his one for the day. He then fielded questions from the press about the administration’s handling of U.S. strikes on Iran, dismissing each reporter with the particular brand of smug confidence that has become central to Jost’s portrayal of the character.
Ansari’s Patel proved to be the sketch’s standout, arriving to defend his tenure at the FBI and proceeding to do so poorly. The bit’s centerpiece involved Patel simultaneously denying and admitting that he had locked himself out of his work email for 36 hours after forgetting he had changed his password to “kashmeoutside69.”
Funnily enough, Patel was reportedly locked out of his FBI email in real life and believed, at least momentarily, that he was being fired. As the sketch demonstrated, the distance between SNL’s Cold Open and the actual news cycle has rarely felt smaller.
This $10 upgrade transforms your PC — but it’s only on sale until midnight
Wild D Jonas Brodin out for Game 1, F Joel Eriksson Ek also ailing
