Naperville Diary

April is National Sexual Abuse Awareness Month. On why honest sex education is one of the most powerful tools for abuse prevention.

Little Village Academy in Chicago banned packed lunches — students must eat the cafeteria food. A 2011 flashpoint in the debate over who controls what kids eat.

A conversation with Rajeev, founder of Naperville's PR3 Systems, on whether honesty and integrity still have a place in the cut-throat corporate world.

Karen Fakroddin M.Ed, RYT — a Naperville special-needs yoga instructor teaching kids and adults with autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy. This week's find.

This week's pick: Gary L. Anderson, CPA, a Chicago-area tax preparer our editors turned to for cross-border tax questions.

Alka Tyle’s 2011 run for the District 204 school board was part of a bigger story: Indian Americans stepping into the local civic institutions that shape

Amy Chua's 'Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother' detonated a parenting debate in 2011. What the research on authoritarian vs authoritative parenting says.

Don't bank calories, savor what's special, and build in movement: practical, non-guilt-laden guidance for navigating the season's abundance.

In 2010 the internet's best promise was unglamorous: skilled amateurs finding audiences that print's gatekeepers never anticipated.

New Year's Eve in the Chicago suburbs: family-friendly early celebrations, hotel packages, restaurant planning tips, and First Night options for young kids.

Beyond the generic: thoughtful holiday gift ideas for readers, cooks, travelers, kids, and the person who has everything.

Skip the before-and-after hype. The most useful fitness wisdom of 2010 was boring: gradual change, behavioral honesty, and moderation over willpower.

Diwali, Thanksgiving, Christmas: how desi families in America negotiate two cultural calendars and end up creating a third one.

Rangsutra, founded by Sumita Ghose, turned 2,000 rural artisans into shareholders. The craft social enterprise shows fair trade can be good business.

The crisis is over; the harder work begins. On resisting the rush to restore, and asking after the storm not where we were, but where we want to go.

Trends expire before the credit card bill arrives. Why personal style — not fashion — is the only thing that never goes out of season.

Rather than complain or rather than complaining? A close look at one of English's most quietly misused phrases — and how to use it with precision.

A December 2010 reflection on a year of WikiLeaks cables, a wobbling euro, and New Delhi scandals — and the stubborn insistence of joy and peace amid it all.

Growing up in India, she was told fair skin was everything. Moving to America taught her otherwise. A personal essay on colorism — and unlearning it.