Lake Forester

A Lake Forest Mother’s Days — and nights

Thu, 09 May 2013 05:11:39 -0500

With Mother’s Day just a few short days away, I find myself compelled to reflect on the plight of the average mom turning 50 this year. And yes, as you may remember, that would include me. Being a mother typically means taking little to no time for ourselves, putting everyone else first, wondering where the hours go before it’s suddenly the end of another day. But the end of my days have been getting later this year. Actually, my nighttime rituals have been getting longer. And more complicated. You see, the older I get and with no kids at home, …

Hindsight 20/20 for Lake Forest senior

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:19:35 -0500

At the recent fundraiser benefiting CROYA, or Committee Representing our Young Adults, I donated a silent auction prize of being featured in an upcoming column. Today, I am pleased to highlight Lake Forest High School senior and auction prize winner, Joseph Santello of Lake Forest. He is a warm, soft-spoken, thoughtful young man, highly dedicated to service, family and friends. Over a quick lunch last week, I asked Joseph to give us some insight on the perspectives of a graduating senior — in the unique position to offer a bit of wisdom on the high school years, yet on the …

Not alone in quest for comfort

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:40:29 -0500

Call it fellowship, camaraderie, the female bond. Whatever you call the unspoken way women relate to each other, it was heard loud and clear after the column I wrote a few weeks back about what I wear around the house on winter nights at home. Surely you remember — complete emphasis on warmth and comfort, and little to no effort toward color coordination, matching pieces, or fashion. Boy, did I hear from my fellow frigid-weather fashionless females. And boy did I love these e-mails. “Dear Maria, I have felt compelled to respond to your columns many times, but last night, …

Mid-November, mid break in action

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 16:46:00 -0500

Moms. One can usually find moms in some state of overload. Too much going on. Somebody always needing something. A busy time of year beginning or ending. But have you ever considered that the middle of November brings a sort of interim lull, even for moms? If your kid plays football, it’s just ending. If they play basketball, the season is just starting. Field hockey? Ended. Tennis? Golf? Done. (And what fantastic seasons the fall teams at LFHS have had!) Homework and piano lessons? In a groove. Halloween? Decorations down. Holiday chaos? Not quite here. Hmm. There may be something …

Treats play Halloween tricks

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 18:56:01 -0500

As I’m sure I’ve shared over the years, one of my usual evening routines at home is paging through a light-topic magazine, not only to unwind from the day, but to enjoy the stress-reducing benefits of feel-good journalism. Until the other night. With one of my favorite female-centric publications in hand and a delightful bowl of pre-Halloween-in-the-Malin-household candy within arm’s reach, I was happily thumbing through the highlights of fall on the North Shore when I happened upon an article detailing the amount of exercise one would have to do to burn off any number of Halloween candy servings. I …

A trip alone, together

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 11:27:01 -0500

As I’m writing this column, my husband and I are on a plane coming home from a five-plus day getaway to ring in our 25th wedding anniversary. I glance over at him from my laptop as he leisurely enjoys the latest Spiderman movie on our flight, a tan and rested version of the guy I rarely see in this state of movie-watching, pistachio-loving calm. I find it hard not to smile, wondering why we never traveled without the kids all these years, as this was almost the first trip we’ve taken alone as a couple since our honeymoon. No, I’m …

‘In-mom-niacs’

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 15:20:01 -0500

So, I’m lying in bed, and it’s a typical weeknight about 3 a.m. when I really need to fall back to sleep, but can’t. As I contemplate my recurring inability to sleep through the night, I realize that I’ve officially joined a club to which many moms I know already belong. I call us, the “middle-aged-middle-of-the-night mom insomniacs.” I truly thought that after years of getting up with little ones and years of getting up worrying about teenaged ones, I would now blissfully slumber through the night without issue. But here I stare at the same old ceiling, knowing I …

Emptying my nest: Part Two

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 10:48:34 -0500

You know, I very rarely do a two-part column, but I somehow feel compelled to offer a follow-up to my last column about recently joining the ranks of “empty nester-hood.” I can either call this one, “Empty Nesting: Part Two,” or to more appropriately describe the past few weeks, “Emptying My Nest: Part Purge, Part Pitch.” Now, this is a month when I should be unwinding from all the chaos of getting one daughter off to life in the city and another daughter off to life in college, when time outside of work should be spent planning catch-up lunches and …

Are you tired after Lake Forest Day?

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 12:34:20 -0500

You might be taking it a bit slower today after 48 hours of Lake Forest Day celebrating. Were you chasing wristband-encircled little ones around a night of one-price rides Tuesday? Are you fighting a mild case of Tilt-a-Whirl vertigo from some futile attempt to rediscover your endurance for carnival thrills? And let’s not forget the parade yesterday. Did you grab the kids, find a best-kept-secret parking space, and arrive early in your most patriotic summer wear to salute our honored veterans and marching bands? The Lake Forest Day parade is always a highlight of our fair town’s annual festivities, and …

Acts of kindness for Ellie

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:18:24 -0500

July 18 marked the one-year anniversary of the death of a kind and gentle teen named Elizabeth (Ellie) Burns from Lake Forest. Ellie’s young life -- like that of many others our community has unexpectedly said “good-bye” to this year -- made this world a better place. On the milestones after a loved one’s death, what better way to remember the kindnesses they showed than to perform some small “act of kindness” in their honor? I asked some of Ellie’s friends, teens and adults, to do just that in her memory, and this is what they shared: Joanne Yorro: I …

Yes, this is a challenging summer

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 06:59:25 -0500

Without overstating the obvious, we are in extreme need of a change in our weather. The grass is dying, our flowers are positively shriveling in the heat, and I dare say I thought I saw a tumbleweed roll across my patio the other day. But other than the wilting landscaping, drought restrictions, and misery of trying to get groceries home in a 105-degree car before the milk spoils, I personally could just use a few autumn-like days right now. While I love summer, there’s just something to be said about the break you get when the weather occasionally turns cool …

Graduation parties gone mad

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 06:16:02 -0500

It’s been great having a high school graduate this summer. The ceremony. The excitement. The parties. Attending multiple parties every weekend. Not to mention throwing our own grad party. Now, this mom loves celebrations as much as (if not more) than the next, but I dare say that the grad gatherings are getting a bit – umm – complicated. Take, for instance, attending multiple parties in one day. Sounds like fun, sounds like smiles for miles, right? Congrats, congrats. Welcome, welcome. “Now where are you headed again in August, sweetie? Ah, great school.” Until there are three in one day …

Cologne again for a Father’s Day gift?

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 14:18:33 -0500

The other day, as my husband and I stood back to back at our respective bathroom vanities performing our usual “getting ready for work” routines, I casually turned to him in between tweezing my eyebrows and inquired, “The kids and I want to know what you want for Father’s Day, Steve.” And the subsequent 10-minute exchange went something like this. Steve Malin: “Wait, when’s Father’s Day this year?” Maria Malin: “Seriously? The same as every year. The third Sunday in June.” SM: “So when’s that?” MM: “I don’t know, you do the math. What do you want from the kids …

What can a mom say to college-bound daughter?

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 12:20:17 -0500

One of my favorite “mom-writers” of all time, the brilliant Erma Bombeck, once said, “I see children as kites. You spend a lifetime trying to get them off the ground. Finally they are airborne, but they need more string, so you keep letting it out. There is sadness that comes with the joy, because the kite becomes more distant, and somehow you know it won’t be long before that beautiful creature will snap the lifeline that bound you together and soar as it was meant to soar, free and alone.” My daughter, Brianna, graduates from Lake Forest High School in …

These are not usual times

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 08:29:57 -0500

If I was writing a “usual” column today, I’d probably talk about the “usual” rites of spring and how hectic the end of the school year is for families. I’d shake my head and laugh with you at how overwhelmed moms are with planning graduation parties and First Communion luncheons and buying teacher gifts and moving their college kids back home and helping their out-of-college kids move to the city. If this was a “usual” May, I might write about going to the Spirit of 67 Home Tour, observing the annual ritual of moms from the community who grab a …

A very special mom: Kristine Fontana

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 10:27:44 -0500

May is the month we remember mothers. There are moms that make you laugh, make you stronger, know when to hug, cry, or simply listen. There are moms who are there for their families, and moms who are there for everyone. Kristine Fontana of Lake Bluff had love and time enough for everyone. She’ll be remembered on Mother’s Day weekend as her family and friends, “Team Fontana” as they are known, run and walk in her memory, raising funds for the American Brain Tumor Association (ABTA) at their seventh annual “Breakthrough for Brain Tumors 5K Run/Walk” on May 12 in …

Parents change conversations at home after tragedies

Sun, 20 May 2012 08:25:44 -0500

Parents are talking. To one another. More importantly, talking to their kids at home. And -- most importantly -- listening. Through the tragedies of these past months, families have opened new dialog; schools and youth groups have opened more doors to support our children’s emotional health; our community has opened its heart, yet again, to comfort families whose lives will never be the same. I asked many parents what they are talking about at home, and here’s what they offered: “Every day, we let our kids know how much they mean to us and how much we love them. As …

How Lent helps us think of others

Thu, 31 May 2012 15:43:25 -0500

I was at a dinner party two weeks ago, and I guess I never realized how much the season of Lent gets mixed into conversation this time of year. Who “gave up” what, who is trying to curb a bad habit, who is going to church more often, who is struggling to keep their Lenten commitment from the first week let alone the entire forty days, becomes the topic of social gatherings and even spring break vacations. At the party I attended, there was a mom who’d given up snacks, a dad who sacrificed red meat, another who’d given up …