When I decided to participate in last week’s TV Tune Out, I wasn’t expecting any earth shattering realizations or epiphanies. Technology fasting is a lot like crash dieting: although it can help in the short term, it’s a wasted effort unless you change your habits over the long term. The week progressed pretty much as I thought it would. My daughter and I both took a step back from all of the technological distractions that monopolize our attention and suck time out of the day. I can't say that we were transformed by the experience, but we did learn a little bit about ourselves and each other…

The computer is the screen of choice in our house. We don’t have cable TV anymore; we stream Netflix. We play MMORPGs. I use social media for networking and keeping in touch with friends and family. All of this means that my daughter and I find ourselves in front of the computer at some point every day. We admittedly overdo it at times, especially during the winter months. Next month we'll be joining 5,500 other North Shore residents to participate in TV Tune Out. This annual event was launched by the Winnetka Alliance in 1995 to encourage people to turn off the TV and other electronic …

I have always loved books. I get lost in them. I can spend hours on the couch absorbed in a story, or sink into my pillow and read until the wee hours of the morning. It was my daughter who deepened my love of reading. She was born the year Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was published. I was alone during my pregnancy and read a lot of books during those months, including Harry Potter. When I learned that J.K. Rowling was also a single mother and penned Sorcerer's Stone in a coffee shop while her infant daughter napped in a baby carriage – that was it. I was hooked. Years later I read …

My New Year’s diet failed miserably after a few short weeks. I have a hard time sticking to rules and regimens. I like to shop for and cook what appeals to me on any given day, and I don’t have the energy or patience to make separate meal plans for myself and my daughter. I haven’t given up on my New Year’s resolution, though, and I’d still like to know: What does it mean to "eat healthy?" How do you sort through all of the conflicting information out there? What’s the best way to help kids to make sensible choices? I turned to three local nutritionists for advice, and they all agree on some …

I thought I had dodged the body-image bullet with my daughter, I really did. She turns 11 this year, and she’s never demonstrated even the slightest obsession with her physical appearance. I’ve tried to instill a relaxed attitude about food. I don’t own a bathroom scale. “Everything in moderation” is our mantra in the kitchen. For years I’ve emphasized intelligence and inner beauty. Then, out of the clear blue the other day, she asked me if I think she’s fat. It’s the one question I’ve been dreading, because she’s not fat. It's because I know how a negative self-image can become a worse enemy…

Stephanie Nelson, the Coupon Mom, has appeared on numerous national talk shows, including Oprah, Dr. Oz, the Today Show, The View,  the CBS Early Show and more. Her book, The Coupon Mom's Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bill in Half, was released in 2010 and became a New York Times bestseller in its first month of publication.   I recently had the opportunity to interview Stephanie about her money-saving strategies and website, which in 2008 was named one of the Top 5 Best Coupon-Clipping Web Sites by SmartMoney.com. Her site offers printable coupons for groceries, restaurant meals and drug …

When my 10-year-old confides in me about a bad day at school or asks me to help her sort out her angry or hurt feelings, it’s easy to forget her much younger years when communication was esoteric and challenging at best. During those years I often joked that I felt like Rain Man’s mother. Toddlers and preschoolers are just starting to process language and are “me”-centric, and it’s impossible to communicate with them in a linear or logical way. Instead, you have to get inside of your child's world and find your way around. I didn’t always do that successfully, but I was fortunate to have good…

As much as I love computers and gadgets, I’m kind of a neophyte with my iPhone. Other than texting out-of-state friends, sending email and making calls, I don’t use it much. This is where apps come in. A well-designed app (application abbreviated) is a delight, especially when it makes life easier. There are hundreds of useful apps for parents out there, too many to cover in a few paragraphs. Below are my personal top five. I use them regularly, sometimes daily, for things like managing my home, assigning chores, cooking and shopping. They range in price from free to $4.99.  HomeRoutines …

One day last year, my daughter had a close call after she got off the school bus. She was almost hit by a car while crossing the street. The bus had its stop sign out and lights flashing, but the motorist tried to pass anyway. When he saw my daughter, he swerved, drove over the lawn and sped off. It all happened too fast for the bus driver to get a license plate number, but she reported the incident and I contacted the school about it. The school responded by rerouting buses to stop “wheels to curb” from that point on. My daughter was fine although shaken up. It brought home the fact that one…

"This smells so good; can we cook it now?" my daughter asked as she mixed the chicken in the marinade. We were working on the first step in a recipe called Spicy Chicken, which is based on Chicken Tikka Masala. It's from a kids' cookbook called You Can Cook by Annabel Karmel. Her grandmother sent it to my daughter for Christmas. The day it arrived, she sat down with it several different times and thumbed through the recipes, which include everything from smoothies and salads to main course dishes and bread. The photos are big and bright, and the recipes are short and easy to follow. Lately …

The week between Christmas and New Year's is my favorite time of year. The stress of the holidays is behind me and work is less hectic than usual. My daughter is still on break, which means that we don't have to set an alarm or worry about the mad rush in the morning, packing the backpack and frantically searching for things like homework papers and mittens before the bus comes. It also feels like a time of promise to me. A new year is about to begin, and whether or not any of my hopes and plans are realized in the coming year, there is still the anticipation of a fresh start. This year I …

I don't work in my pajamas. I suppose I could if I wanted to, and the idea of pajamas-as-uniform is commonly used to advertise telecommuting jobs, but it's not what appeals to me about working from home. Instead, I like having a quiet space and uninterrupted time to get things done. I also like being around for my daughter. When I commuted downtown several years ago I was gone 10 hours a day or more, and it meant longer hours in day care for her and a hefty childcare bill for me. Now that I'm working from home I tend to be more productive, and our lives are less hectic without the stress of a…

Time, or lack thereof, is always in the news during the holiday season as our schedules overflow with commitments. Advice for frazzled parents, work-life balance, workplace flexibility… these are just a few topics covered in recent stories, trends, blog posts and columns. If you need help organizing your calendar, planning meals and coordinating family schedules, technology may be your answer. Sue Shellenbarger of The Wall Street Journal's Juggle talks about several new online time-management tools designed for busy families, including PlumLife and relishrelish.com. Are holiday …

A couple of years ago I was in a long-term relationship with a guy I met on Match.com. We were both too embarrassed to admit that to anyone, so he concocted a romantic tall tale about a chance encounter that went something like this: We reached for the same book at a local Borders one rainy Saturday afternoon. As our hands touched, we accidentally knocked the book off the shelf and laughed. It was love at first sight. Yeah, it was a little far-fetched and unbelievable, and the likelihood of our meeting in a bookstore, cafe, bar or anywhere else was next to nil. Even though we lived in …

Like most 10-year-olds, my daughter loves the holidays. It's not just about presents, although that's part of it. It's more about the anticipation, the colorful lights and decorations everywhere, the first snow. It's a time for seeing grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins, and the aroma of homemade Christmas cookies and pumpkin pie in our home. It's a magical time when nothing can go wrong, and that's how it should be when you're a kid. The reality, of course, is that holiday time is rarely as idyllic as a Norman Rockwell painting. I went through a layoff at the end of 2009, right …

As I sit here listening to Change by the Lightning Seeds, I'm reminded of the trips I took to the south of France during the mid-1990s. "…You're never going to be like all those fools You're coming out tonight There's nothing to lose You're going to give it all a try Don't ever change…" This song was always on my playlist during the plane ride to Paris and the train trip through the countryside, and the lyrics were my mantra at the time. I was in my early 30's and carefree. I became nearly fluent in French. I toured the small villages and towns of Provence and soaked in the ethereal light …

The ASPCA estimates that between 5 million 7 million cats and dogs wind up in shelters every year. The reasons vary, but many are given up by their owners. Nearly half are euthanized because no one adopts them. This weighed heavily in my decision to go to a local shelter, rather than a pet store or breeder, when I adopted a dog back in September. At the time, a staff member at the shelter told me that I was really saving two animals: my dog Kara and the dog she was leaving a space for. The past two years have seen unprecedented overcrowding in animal shelters because of the economy. Many …

Halloween is about the costumes, the decoration and perhaps most important to kids, it's about candy. Growing up, I competed with my brother to collect the most loot in the shortest amount of time. He always won and after canvassing our immediate neighborhood, he'd head out, with pillowcase in hand, to hit nearby suburbs with friends. At the time we didn't stop to think about what— or how much— we were consuming. It was just  something we did. Today, more and more families are conscious of healthy lifestyle choices, and are applying this thinking to the Halloween candy craze. While Halloween'…

North Shore school districts topped the Cook County list in Chicago Magazine's Best Elementary Schools survey this year. Nine area schools, two in Glenview, took positions in the top 10 while several others claimed slots in the top 20, out of 500 in the county. Chicago Magazine publishes the Best Elementary Schools list, which examines schools in the City of Chicago and its collar counties every few years. The last ranking was published in 2006. To determine rankings, magazine staff review and analyze three key criteria: Illinois Standards Achievement Test scores (ISATs), student/teacher …

My daughter has been to a lot of birthday parties since she was in preschool. One that's always stood out in my mind is the birthday of one of her second-grade classmates. The celebration itself was a lot of fun. It was at Georgia Nut Company (which just changed locations from Glenview to Skokie Oct. 1). The kids learned how to make chocolate pizzas and other confections and got to bring all of their creations home. What was different about this party was the note on the invitation:  Please bring a grocery bag of food donations in lieu of a gift. I'd never seen anything like it before, but I …