Kutnick's Korner

College was the best four years of my life. And, I am not exaggerating. I have visited my Alma Mater many times over the past 16 years. Weekend trips. Day trips. With my husband (who also went to UW Madison). With my kids. And, with one or two friends here and there. But, this past weekend I went away with 7 of my college friends to Madison. We had been talking about doing this for 5 years. We would start the dialog. And, we'd get excited. But, in the years of career switches, weddings and babies we found that we couldn't get our act together. It just wasn't the right time. So, after 5 years of dialog...5 years of not accomplishing this goal. We found a weekend that actually wasn't a conflict for all 8 of us. We booked the hotel. 6/8 of us booked flights. Football tickets were purchased. And, baby sitting arrangements (husbands and grandparents) were made for the 15 kids between the 8 of us. Busy work schedules were cleared. And, we finally made it happen. It se

It's always an interesting conversation to talk to people and reflect back events with the question of "Where were you when..." My earliest memory of where was I when...was when Natalie Wood drowned. I didn't really know who she was, but I knew she was famous. I remember my mom being upset. The next one was when John Lennon was shot. My mom and I were running errands. It was raining. We were in her big brown, two door Oldsmobile, and it came on the radio. It was 1980. I was 7. The next big one for me was the Space Shuttle Challenger incident in 1986. I was in Junior High school. Health class. And, it came over the loud speaker. I remember when on this one really clearly. There was the big earthquake of Northridge, CA in 1994. I remember when I happened to be home from college on Christmas break in Sherman Oaks, CA (where I grew up) and at 4am (or so) my parents came rushing in to grab me from my bed from stuff falling everywhere. I was 20. I remember when OJ

I never thought I would call myself old fashioned. But, I think I am on the topic of activities and homework. I believe that today's kids have too much on their plates. Last spring I saw the documentary-Race to Nowhere that addressed the overload of homework and pressure, and I feel like we are just at the beginning. I only have a 3rd grader and a Kindergartener. I have tried my hardest to not over schedule my kids. My daughter wanted to do dance, gymnastics AND soccer. I told her she had to pick two. So, she picked gymnastics and dance. She has nothing after school on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. I think that's reasonable. I do need to add Sunday school to her plate of commitments. My son wanted to play soccer and hockey (house not travel). After doing the house sports of basketball and baseball paralleled with house hockey last year, I made him pick one. He picked hockey. Not soccer. Okay. Hockey is Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes Friday night. He also has an optional clini

It's Sunday morning. Quiet. Not a lot of activities have started yet for my kids, thankfully. And, my son was picked to be the "Top Dog" next week for his class. Top Dog can also be referred to as Star of the Week, Star Student. You get my point. Projects like these, even with my 3rd grade son, need parent guidance. Now, back in the 70s/80s I don't remember having this Star of the Week honor, but if I did I'm pretty sure that I would work my hardest to create a "brag" sheet about me. I would want it to be perfect for my teacher. And, I would want to finish it as soon as I could. My son, who is like my emotional twin (he also looks like me)...is definitely not my homework twin. Aside from getting him to read every night, getting him to sit down and do homework (even the fun stuff like Top Dog journaling) is a major struggle. He's a procrastinator. I am the complete opposite. I am trying to instill the value of do it now, so you won't have to dea

Traditionally, I seem to get an itch to clean my closets right around September 1st and May 1st. Before I quit my job in 2010 and had more extra money to spend, it was more of an "Out with the old in with the new" kind of a thing...Now, it's just an out with an old kind of a thing. I always find it interesting...the things that I hold on to. One of my favorite things is a bottle of Four Season's Hotel replenishing spray that I/we bought on our honeymoon. That was 12 years ago. The stuff in the bottle has officially reached "gross" standards, but there it sits. Waiting for another year to pass on by. I don't think it would be good karma throw it away. So, I don't. Another interesting thing is my retainer. I was supposed to wear it at night for the rest of my life starting in 7th grade. That didn't happen. But, my retainer has followed me from LA to Madison (college) and to 5 residences in Chicago. I never open the case. But, I know it's ther

I was a habitual dieter from 1995-2009. If you do the math, that's 14 years that went like this: Dieting. Restriction. Success. Lose 5. Gain 7. Failure. Soon after I graduated college in 1995, I became fixated on dieting, exercising and losing weight. I started with Weight Watchers and graduated to Phen-Phen until it was taken off the market. People started identifying me as a dieter. Worst of all, whatever I lost came back - and then some. In 2000, due to a prescription medication, my weight skyrocketed. I literally gained 30 pounds in three months. For someone who has dealt with anxiety, especially anxiety about weight, this was my worst nightmare come true. I thought I was "heavy" when  I really wasn't-and then I really, really was. I tried working with dietitians. I tried weight-loss prescription medication and Weight Watchers again. In 2003, at my highest weight, I got pregnant. After my first child was born, I lost all the baby weight and then s

Ever since I resigned from my full-time position at Chicago Parent last summer, I have been searching for the next step. What can I do with my life that makes sense and that I enjoy? I have had a year of self exploration and soul searching to see what to do next. One of the things that I got excited about was teaching exercise. For more than a year I have been taking exercise classes regularly (about three to four times a week). An email came in May looking for teachers to audition. Could I be a teacher? Should I even go for it? Even though I am not a perfect 10 (not a size 10 but a Bo Derek 10), should I put myself out there? It was a hard decision to make, and I thought about it long and hard. I got up the courage to audition. I had never done anything like this before. It really challenged me in so many ways, and I loved getting outside of my comfort level. Then they called me back for an interview. It turns out that it wasn't the happy ending I had hoped for. I didn't