The name of our third son is Jason — fitting for a child born on Sept. 11. Yes, on the day. And yes, we were aware of what was going on. As our nation recognizes the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, our Jason will celebrate his 10th birthday. We’ve always told him that his birth was a blessing, that his new life was healing on such a sad day. But until this year, we hadn’t exposed him to the full tragedy. Jason knew the bare details that many people died when planes hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. We didn’t think he needed to know any more than that when he was younger. Little boys …

For years now, our kids have been pestering us for a pet. Preferably a dog, but they would take a lizard, bird, turtle or fish, please, please, PLEASE! Brennan’s third grade persuasive essay was on the virtues of getting a dog. Jason, having given up on that idea after seeing how it worked out for Brennan, went with why we should get a turtle. I grew up with pets and brought home a beautiful tortoiseshell cat the day after our honeymoon. Pat wasn’t that excited about the idea. When he was a boy, his only experience with a pet was a wild-caught turtle that ran away. But I wasn’t deterred. A …

Nearly 30 of us held up cutout masks of our friend’s face in front of our own faces as we waited for her to arrive. It was a cute idea. My friend could see a bit of herself in all of us, her friends, who came out to celebrate her 40th birthday at BlackFinn in downtown Naperville. There was a “Surprise!” and hugs followed by chit-chatting, laughing, snacking, cocktailing and dancing. My own 40th, a year ago, involved a girls overnight in Chicago where there also was plenty of chit-chatting, laughing, snacking, cocktailing and dancing. The weekend also included a nice dinner out in Naperville …

Even though our oldest son is a high school freshman, college is on my brain. It’s college application season. Friends have been traveling the country to look at different schools and have been talking about campus amenities, programs, application processes and how to pay for it all. Even though we’re four years away from such talk, I’m taking lots of notes. Like families everywhere, we started saving for college when our four kids were babies. It was a matter-of-fact decision. For our family just as it is for most families throughout Naperville, college is an expectation. In District 203, 98…

School supplies, check. Haircuts, check. New shoes, check. I think we’re ready for school. District 203 starts Wednesday and District 204 on Aug. 22. It’s our first year of having kids at every level -- elementary, junior high and high school. With David a freshman, Brennan in seventh grade, Jason in fourth and Reese in first, there’s a mixture of feelings in our house ranging from excitement to nervousness to complete calm. For Brennan and Jason, the start of this year is “been there, done that” along with the excitement all kids feel about reacquainting themselves with school friends and …

We’re in one of my favorite times of year. It’s the lull before school and the next round of activities and sports. Through winter, spring and summer, our lives are a blur of practices and games. Basketball, soccer and baseball overlap, keeping us hopping more than usual for a few weeks in each season. But for the month of August until school starts, for us and for many other families, there is a blissful span of time we can fill however we choose. For me, it feels like I’ve finally gotten out of school for the summer. I can breathe.   There’s a certain freedom, a luxury, to have time on my …

Last weekend, my husband Pat let our 14-year-old drive a golf cart around a hilly course in Michigan. It was a good thing I wasn’t there. I’m glad David had the experience, but I would have been watching through my fingers – at best sucking some of the pleasure out of it and at worst making David nervous and more prone to an accident. I have a gift. Give me an experience and I’ll immediately conjure up all the possible tragedies that could be associated with it. Part of my gift comes from my years as a newspaper reporter. I started on the police beat and have covered murders, fires, car …

Like a ton of other adults out there, I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Potter. As in a fan of Harry Potter. Although I was right around 30 with children far too young to read or even enjoy Harry Potter books, I discovered them when my book club suggested we read the first Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. That was back in 2000. After the first page, I devoured the book in one sitting and went right out to get the second two. I was charmed and captivated. Since then, I’ve purchased new releases as soon as they came out. Each time housework was neglected and dinner reduced to whatever I…

The ball pinged off our son’s bat, sailing over the side fence and into the parking lot. The second pitch hit the top of the bat and the fence behind the catcher. The third made contact, went toward second base, was scooped up and thrown to first. Brennan was out but not before his teammate scored a run. He headed to the dugout at Nike Park with a smile over his RBI, his contribution to the Red Sox’s win in the Naperville Little League Major League City Championship Saturday night against the Giants, 5-0. After the win, the boys dog-piled on top of each other as they celebrated. Grins were …

I’m writing this column poolside. No, we don’t own a pool. Like many Naperville families we belong to an old-fashioned neighborhood pool. It’s just like the one I grew up going to — L-shaped with a deep end and two diving boards. There’s a baby pool and a junior pool. Local teens do the lifeguarding, teach the swim lessons and help coach the swim team. When they tell one of the little kids to quit running on the deck, it’s with a smile and the little kids listen because there’s a relationship. A decade ago the lifeguards were the little kids doing the running. There are no slides or fancy …

We could hear a bunch of yelling through the noisy buckets of rain pouring onto the nylon walls of our tent. Then, from outside, there was a big splash. Then just the rain. A little while later, we heard it again. I turned to Pat and whispered, “I don’t think they’ll be there in the morning.” I half expected to see a tent, but no car when we peeked outside at daybreak. Among the mess of puddles and mud pits that had become our campsite, our friends were still there. Water had pooled on the roof of their tent during the night, causing a big belly of water to collapse part of the tent. We heard…

How did I learn my 14-year-old son’s flight for the eighth grade Washington D.C. trip was canceled due to mechanical problems, that the group took in a movie before staying the night in a Chicago area hotel, and that the kids were touring a D.C. museum by 10 a.m. the next morning? Mostly from people other than my son, David. He did send me two texts totaling about 20 words letting me know the flight was canceled and that they were staying in a hotel, planning to catch a morning flight.  The rest I learned from my friends’ Facebook posts and texts. I knew David was OK and figured he would get …

I’m a list maker. To do lists. Grocery lists. Chore lists. Packing lists. Honey do lists. I find it satisfying to write something down, accomplish it and cross it off. There is one kind of list I have yet to make -- a bucket list. When I saw Patch offered recommendations for summer, I got to thinking about all the things to do in and around Naperville that I haven’t yet tried. There are so many fun offerings that it is easy to stick to the same things. We love the parks, the Morton Arboretum, the Riverwalk, the librairies, the DuPage Children’s Museum and our neighborhood pool. But sometimes …

After some crazy days of spring, I’m looking forward to some lazy days of summer. Like many families in Naperville, spring has us running from practices to games all season long. There are overlapping sports — soccer and baseball for us. Schedules shift as game and practice days change week to week. Then there are the last-minute practices that might be announced only a few hours before they start. Add to that the drive time all over town from Nike to Commissioners to Frontier to DuPage River and Prairieparks. And, finally, the chaos of rainouts and makeup games. It takes a hefty calendar to …

Last year I was volunteering at my kids’ elementary school and I could hear “God Bless America…” coming from the gym. Children were lined up by the school stage facing the audience, singing. “Land that I love…” There were veterans in the front row. And to my surprise, I found myself fighting back tears. “Stand beside her and guide her through the night with a light from above…” What struck me about that lovely moment was that the very reason those veterans risked their lives was to preserve our way of life, Americans’ way of life, for those very kids who were singing. “From the mountains, to …

Even though Pat and I were on opposite sides of the field, we had the same thought. Jason, then 7 ½, was filling in on his brothers’ baseball team. Earlier in the game, he made it to first base and was all smiles. This time Jason stood by home plate, bat up, and looking a little uneasy. The pitcher, at 12 or 13, was probably double his size. As we watched, Pat and I both thought, “We should pull him.” Within seconds, the pitch caught Jason in the back as he flinched to miss it. There were tears and a bruise. Worst of all there was fear. Jason was afraid of the ball and it was our fault. …

I have a dried, dandelion flower that I keep to remind me of the dozens of times my boys have been sweet. It’s nice to imagine them seeing a flower and thinking “Mom,” then picking it for me. It’s like a little whispered, “I love you.” But the crop of dandelions invading my back yard? Not so nice. I don’t see love in them; I see war. In the must-have, green-well-manicured-lawn world of suburbia, the yellow flowers scream, “I don’t take care of my lawn.” And likely tick off my neighbors who probably worry the weeds will spread into their perfectly green yards. It’s embarrassing, even though …

Everyone tells new mothers that they should sleep when the baby sleeps. But, when my first son, David, was born nearly 14 years ago, I didn’t want to sleep. He was too beautiful. I wanted to watch him every second, even when he was sleeping. I was also that way with his brothers —Brennan, Jason and Reese. Of course, the honeymoon was over once sleep deprivation took hold and all of the work required to take care of those little beings demanded attention. Being a mom isn’t easy. There are gross parts like having a baby throw up down the front of your sweatshirt. There are the exhausting parts …

Back before the days of VCRs and DVRs, I set my alarm to wake up earlier than I ever had before. Just like girls all over the world, I was willing to lose sleep to see Lady Diana marry Prince Charles. My mom and I plunked down on the couch in our pjs to watch. It was everything a little girl thinks a royal wedding should be—the carriage, the dress, the sparkly tiara, the hats in the crowd, the flowers and that grand train. There were miles of fabric trailing Lady Diana as she took that long walk to wed Prince Charles. I remember wanting to see her veil-covered face. That might be why I chose …

If you have kids, you’re thinking of summer. And not just because you’d like to kick them out of the house on a regular basis to burn off some energy or because you’re looking forward to the day when you won’t have to scrape mud off their soccer cleats. It’s the time of year when we parents have to map out what our little cherubs will be doing when the days are long and hot. Swimming, golf, summer school, drama, enrichment programs, summer camp. Sign up is right now or coming up quick. We’re trading e-mails about whether to join Centennial Beach, a private local pool or one in a neighboring …