It really does help to know how to cook

My mother always tells me -- and anyone else willing to listen -- that I told her at age 16 she was done teaching me. I knew all I needed to know. Oh, do I miss those smart aleck days! As a career woman, I was clueless about most of the domestic arts. With no kids to care for, it didn't really matter. My husband could cook. But when the kids came, he was always at work at meal time. Suddenly it didn't make sense anymore to hit fast food joints for lunch or do that window delivery thing they've got going at all those chain restaurants now. With kids in the house, you want to be able to survey what's in the fridge and pantry and whip something up as fast as they get hungry and before they start burrowing into the snacks when you're not looking.