Give yourself a night off without having to pay for take-out.

Just how dangerous are shopping carts to kids? It depends on who you ask.

Shopping carts have become the next battleground in the war on germs. Grocery stores now offer antibacterial wipes and disposable covers for shopping cart handles, while parents can also lug in cotton covers that prevent their baby from ever actually having contact with the shopping cart their riding in.

New technology offers retailers another option -- a sort of car wash for carts. For a mere(!) $700 a month, retailers can lease a system that sanitizes the whole cart.

But is all this flurry and worry really necessary? One study found that infants who ride in a cart next to packages of raw poultry and meat are at an increased risk of developing salmonella. But other pediatricians say that all this fear over germs can actually backfire. Kids need to be exposed to germs and bacteria to build up a healthy immune system.

Because both of my girls are healthy and don't have any chronic health issues, I've never given shopping carts a second thought. We wash our hands on a regular basis, but we don't use any anti-bacterial products or shopping cart covers. But I see plenty of moms who do. Where do you stand on this issue?

Just because you have a dryer doesn't mean you should always use it.

Keeping your kids in clean clothes is easy when the washing machine runs like clockwork.

Don't worry, I'm not referring to getting coffee. What I mean is, when you go in for a visit, say your annual exam or for a specific reason--like you're pregnant--how much time does your OBGYN spend talking with you? Is it enough? I've read countless articles over the years about how doctors in general are not spending enough time with their patients. Due to the pressures of insurance companies to ever-expand their businesses, for example, doctors are seeing more and more patients and able to give them less and less time. The really good doctors seem to have endless waiting rooms full of eager patients as well, which could mean that you get only a few minutes of his/her time once you actually secure an appointment.

The reason you're seeing an OBGYN might determine how long he or she spends with you. When I visit my OBGYNs, for example, I'm there for pregnancy check-ups. These don't normally take very long at all, and they're very by-the-numbers: Weight taken (fat!), blood pressure checked (low, good), belly measured (sure due date is good, why not), that kind of thing. Then comes the time for questions. How am I feeling, are there any problems, and I resting enough and drinking enough water? Then we check the baby's heartbeat and off I go.

The whole thing takes probably less than ten minutes. It's a whirlwind, but I'm not really designed to be sitting there gabbing all day. Were it an annual exam, it would take longer. There are more tests and questions and most likely the doc wouldn't have seen me a week ago, and then be seeing me next week, and so on. But, do you think you're getting the attention you deserve when you visit the OB or are you just another in a line of vajayjays?

Are you laundry-challenged like me? Keep track of all those tiny socks with this easy trick.

Let the water fill up completely before adding detergent to your laundry load.

Local governments in England are now recruiting children as young as eight to report "enviro-crimes" -- littering, graffiti, and such. According to the Ealing Council in West London, "there are hundreds of Junior Streetwatchers, aged 8-10 years old, who are trained to identify and report enviro-crime issues such as graffiti and fly-tipping." (Fly-tipping is the dumping of trash anywhere other than an authorised landfill.)

"We currently have 25 Street Scene Champions who work with the council," says Harlow Council in Essex. "They are all aged between 11 to 14. They are encouraged to report the aftermath of enviro-crimes such as vandalism to bus shelters, graffiti, abandoned vehicles, fly-tipping etc. They do this via telephone or email direct to the council."

On the one hand, I suppose it's a good thing to get youngsters involved in keeping their community clean and safe, but on the other hand, it seems kinda totalitarian. It's a fine line and I'm not sure which side this falls on. What do you think?

Todd Palin is the untold story of this election. He is a blue-collar snowmobiling fisherman who is secure enough in his masculinity to hold babies and host teas for the former first ladies of Alaska.

During Hillary's campaign, Bill Clinton couldn't help upstaging her and his narcissistic rantings cost her dearly in a razor thin primary. On the other hand, the "First Dude" of the most macho state in our union coolly stands in the background supporting his successful wife without a trace of resentment or envy.

Maybe that's evolution for you. Boomer husbands talk the talk, but Gen X hubbies walk the walk.

I'm an at-home mom of five who writes a weekly column and is also working on a book. There is no way I could do it all without a teammate. As I write this post at my kitchen table, my husband is cleaning the kitchen. As it happens, I'm married to a cute Midwestern lumberjack D.A. who is as comfortable doing the dishes with a baby strapped to his chest in a Bjorn as he is wielding an axe or questioning a witness on the stand. Now that's what I call progress!

Sarah and Todd's relationship is the embodiment of the "partnership" feminists have been calling for for decades. That's why I cannot understand why feminist icons like Gloria Steinem could not put aside their politics on abortion to celebrate, if not this historic nomination, then this exemplary partnership -- a partnership far more liberated than the strange and unrelatable Clinton marriage. I guess for Steinem, if you're pro-life and pro-gun, it just doesn't count.

When it comes to equality and respect between the sexes, the Palins have pushed the ball further in one week than the Clintons have in a decade in the national spotlight. In fact, the tacky and humiliating Monica Lewinski scandal probably set us back.

As for Oprah, well this whole debate could be resolved by simply inviting Todd to the show. Who better to speak about the conditions necessary for female advancement and fulfillment? Come on Oprah, forget Tom Cruise. Put the hunky, helpful husband on your couch!

One of the fast food restaurants had a commercial wherein a young man was in a grocery store holding two packages of meat, his gaze swinging back and forth between the two. Finally, he just drops the meat and hightails it out of the store like the devil himself were chasing him. The tag line then came on saying, "Without us, some guys would starve." Sure, you can dismiss it as simply clever marketing, but I actually know a guy who was just like that before he got married.

Author Sharon E. McKay knows someone like that too -- her son. He actually got scurvy because he thought he could live on chicken wings and beer alone. She and Kim Zarzour, a journalist, decided they had to do something to help all those newly liberated "grown-ups" stay alive in the wild world of momlessness. So they wrote a book: Good To Go: A Practical Guide to Adulthood. It's packed with all the things a young adult needs to know in the big world outside mom's reach. Like cooking. "And of course," says Zarzour of her son's attempt at heating chicken nuggets, "he's yelling out: 'What's a cookie sheet?' I mean, how did I not remember to teach him what a cookie sheet was?"

These days, it seems like kids have a lot more to learn before they leave the nest -- computers, higher math, more politics and world history -- than did my parents. My dad joked that he only learned to add and subtract; he had no need for multiplication and division. These days, kids need a lot more than that to get into a good college. It seems the practical skills have gotten left behind. I'd say this book sounds pretty necessary, these days.

Dragging your kids along on errands is difficult -- unless it's their errands.

Wipes. Once you have a child, it seems impossible to get away from using them. They're everywhere and made to use for everything baby related. And there are so many different kinds to choose from, you find yourself sampling until you find the "right" wipe for your family. Some prefer the all-natural variety, some prefer antibacterial. Others prefer the sensitive skin version, and some just go for whatever is cheapest. Heck, you can even make your own baby wipes at home.

But, are wipes all they're cracked up to be? Are they really safe for all the uses for which they are available? I use them to wipe up during a diaper change. And I use them to wipe my hands. And I use them to wipe down the table after my son has his meal. And I've been known on occasion to use them to wipe his face after said meal. I've used them to wipe his nose instead of traditional tissues because they keep the skin on his nose from drying out.

My husband came home from Costco with a box of 700 wipes. Yes, 700. And all for the low cost of like $17. But are they good for the environment? Do they disintegrate or pile up in a landfill somewhere like everything else? Is it worth it for the convenience? And what about the organic versions versus the regular kind? Is there any real advantage to using chlorine-free wipes as opposed to generic ones? So many questions, so many wipes. They're invaluable when it comes to diaper changing duties, but other than that are they really worth it? I come from the cloth napkin world where little is thrown away or not reused, but I love the cleanliness and simplicity of the wipe. Is there any middle ground?

What is your favorite type of wipe, or have you found a way to get things (and your kids) clean without them?

"Make two piles," I told my five-year-old. "Those you want to keep and the ones you want to give away." I left her sitting in front of a gigantic basket of stuffed animals, about a quarter of her collection. We were spending the day organizing the girls' bedroom and playroom, and this year, I thought they might be big enough to know which toys they no longer wanted or needed.

Silly me.

Ten minutes later, she hollered in to me. "I'm done." A pause, and the, "Wait. Mama? I think I'm going to put the one I put in the giveaway pile back into the keep pile, ok?" I let out a deep sigh as she shoved the entire basket back into the closet, where it will surely sit until we clean and organize next time. My kids can't part with anything.

So I did what I always do -- set them up with a snack and some coloring books and did the job myself. Now their room is clean and organized, and no one yet has noticed even one of the several bags of toys missing, Freecycled and picked up by a mom of a one-year-old.

Still, it feels deceitful. So I'm wondering -- do you tell your young children when you're giving away their old toys, or are you sneaky like me? And at what age do they really start to be able to part with things they don't use any more?

According to a new report, actress Leighton Meester was essentially born in prison. The Gossip Girl star's mother was allegedly in prison serving time in federal prison in Texas for drug-related charges when her now-famous daughter was born.

Mom was allowed to live in a half-way house until little Leighton was three months old, but then had to serve out the rest of her sentence behind bars. The report appears in the questionable if anything Star magazine, where it is noted Leighton was raised by a relative until mom was released.

The magazine also claims other members of Meester's family, including her grandfather, spent time in the slammer, again for drug-related charges. Do we believe it? Sure, why not--plenty of women have had children while in prison. Can't stop mother nature. Do we care? That I'm not so sure about. With Gossip Girl's second season opening to its largest audience ever, I doubt the show needed such a publicity stunt, but they got one anyway!

It's 6:00 on a weeknight -- do you know where dinner is? Or where your sixth grader's homework is? How about the clean laundry? Or your sanity?

Weeknights can be a nightmare, especially when the kids are in school, because suddenly there's so much to get done and so little time to do it. And if you're trying to get it all done at the end of a long work day, it can be even harder. So how do you keep your weeknights from becoming one big blur of not getting things done? By using your weekends wisely, of course.

Take a minute to think about what causes you the most stress during the week: the cooking? the laundry? the homework? Use the weekend to get ahead, if it's at all possible. Cook big meals and freeze leftovers, or shop for easy-to-assemble meals that you can pull together in less than 20 minutes. Get all the laundry done and put away, and identify what it is that you're running out of during the week; if everyone is always out of underwear by Wednesday, for example, it might be time to buy everyone some more underwear.

For things that can't be done ahead -- homework, for example -- create a routine and stick to it. Have kids sit at the table and do their work while you assemble dinner. If your kids are at after care or with a sitter after school, start the evening by looking through their homework to make sure it's all done. Create a specific place in your house for kids to drop notes and forms that have to be signed and returned; check this space every day and deal with things as they come in.

Finally, make a commitment to sit with your kids and hear about their day. The laundry can wait, we promise.