Twenty-four hour Internet access is so common these days that one out of every four workers plan to work during their 2008 vacations, according to a survey conducted by careerbuilder.com, which is an increase of 20 percent over the previous year's results.

Almost one in ten surveyed also said their bosses expect them to check e-mail and/or voice mail while they are away from the office, and 15 percent of workers said they gave up vacation days in 2007 because they were too busy to use them.

Industry and expectations seem to play a big role in workers' desire to stay connected. We all know how important the IT guys is -- and next time you call him because your laptop explodes, be nice. Nearly 19 percent of IT professionals said checking their e-mail and voice mail during vacation is expected, compared to 12 percent of those in the professional and business services sectors.

As a mother of two who works out of the home, my work weeks are just as busy -- if not more so -- than when I hunkered down in my cube at the Huge Multinational Corporation that used to write my paycheck. The rewards of being home while my kids are growing up are more than worth the trade-offs, but the downside is that working at home means I can work pretty much 24/7.

Lately I've found myself checking my e-mail when I could be on the floor playing with my son or daughter. We're traveling this week, and I won't have access to my beloved interwebs for two entire days -- that's 48 hours of unplugged time.

I have to say I'm really looking forward to it. You know things are bad when a 12-hour, two-day road trip with your husband, a 3-year-old and an 8-week old is considered a "vacation."

What about you? Are you over-connected or do yo know when to turn it off?

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When I married the first time, I was quite young and didn't think twice about taking my husband's last name as my own. That's what a woman does when she marries, right? But when I married again nearly 20 years later, I didn't even consider taking my new husband's name. Well, maybe I considered it. But after realizing that he didn't care what I called myself, I knew that I would always and forever be a Maple. What we didn't discuss during those pre-marital negotiations was him taking my last name.

I don't think he would have done it even if I had suggested it, but there are men who would - and do - happily change their last names to that of their wives. There are no real statistics on the subject, but anecdotal evidence suggests that this might even be a trend. And while this trend my seem terribly modern to some, it was actually not uncommon in 14th and 15th century England for men to take their wives' last names if hers was more prominent.

These days, I imagine a man would have a better reason than popularity to exchange the name he was born with for his wife's. Maybe hers is easier to pronounce. Maybe a hyphenated version of both their names would be long and awkward. Or maybe he just likes her name better. I understand why couples want to have the same last name - to show they are united as a family and for the sake of the children. But I see no reason why it must be his last name. Do you?

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A team of scientists at Oxford University in England have identified a gene linked to dyslexia, a learning disability that often leads to reading and spelling difficulties. If not addressed early on, children can fall behind in literacy skills and spend the rest of their lives trying to catch up. With this new discovery, however, children may be able to get help in coping with the condition sooner.

"On average," notes Dr. Silvia Paracchini, of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford, "people carrying this common genetic variant tended to perform poorly on tests of reading ability. However, it is important to note that this is only true for reading ability and not for IQ, so it doesn't appear to be connected to cognitive impairment." In other words, dyslexia does not affect intelligence, just the ability to process certain types of information.

It's estimated that about fifteen percent of the people in the UK carry the gene, so it seems to me that identifying it and being able to check for it is a very good thing.

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Dancing With the Stars pro Tony Dovolani and his wife Lina welcomed twins Adrian and Ariana to their family last month. The twins make three for the couple, who are also mom and dad to three-year-old daughter Luana.

While fellow celeb dad of twins Brad Pitt may complain about being sleep deprived, Tony recently said in an interview that he's surprisingly well rested. That's because his wife won't let him do nighttime daddy duty during the DWTS season. Tony, who called his wife "a fantastic person," recently told Lifeline Live: "I'll give you an example -- at 3 in the morning, I got up wanting to help and she was like, 'Go back to bed. Until the season's over, you're off the hook.'"

Somebody go and get my "fantastic person" badge, because I've been the nighttime go-to girl for FIVE YEARS. Sure, I could poke him in the ribs and tell him it's his turn, but my conscience would pay when his alarm went off. But just because a women is willing to take care of nighttime awakenings, doesn't mean she doesn't get utterly exhausted. Here's a tip for Tony and other dads who get to sleep through feedings and nightmares: An offer to help goes a long way, as does giving her a sleep-in day, doing the dishes, or just taking the baby out of the house for an hour or so while she regains her sanity.

How does nighttime baby duty work at your house?

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Three years ago, Lindsay Burke didn't know about abusive relationships and it cost her her life. She was killed by her boyfriend who was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Lindsay Burke may not have recognized the signs or known what to do, but other teens will, thanks to a new law that bears her name.

The Lindsay Ann Burke Act requires that the topic of dating violence be a part of the health courses in all public middle and high schools. "You teach sex ed, you teach `don't do drugs,' you teach `don't drink,' you should also be teaching `don't be a victim of domestic violence,'" said Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch who helped get the act passed by the legislature.

"If this could happen to her, this could happen to anyone," said Lindsay's mother, Ann Burke. Burke and her husband, Chris, started the campaign to pass the new law. Texas also has a requirement to include awareness of dating violence and several other states encourage it, but Rhode Island's law goes the furthest, requiring the subject be taught annually from seventh grade through twelfth.

Personally, I can't imagine anyone who wants to be considered human hurting another, especially one they care about, but I know it happens. I'd also like to think my kids will be strong enough -- physically and mentally -- to not permit such treatment. I also know, however, that strength is worthless without training, so I'm all in favor of this. I hope that when my kids get to middle school, this will be a part of their classes too.

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Last winter, the FDA put out an advisory warning parents and caretakers that children under the age of two shouldn't be given over-the-counter cough and cold medications. A leading physicians group, Public Citizen's Health Research Group, thinks that the ban didn't go far enough. They'd like to see the FDA ban all OTC cough and cold medications for children under 12.

According to the group, there is little evidence that these medications work in children. Not only that, there have been 123 deaths associated with these meds between 1969 and 2006, and 7,000 kids a year are treated in emergency rooms due to problems with OTC cough and cold medications. "In the absence of direct evidence that a product is effective," said Dr. Alejandro Necochea, a research associate with the group, "No amount of toxicity is acceptable."

The FDA isn't in a rush to ban the medications, however. Calling for more data, they fear that if children's cough and cold medications are pulled from the shelves, the problem will be made worse by parents who will give kids adult medications instead. We cleaned these kinds of meds out of our medicine cabinet a long time ago, treating colds with fluids, a vaporizer, and lots of TLC, though I do keep Benadryl around in case of an allergic reaction.

What about you?

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We wonder what this little beauty is thinking about...the current economic crisis? Somehow, we don't think so. Thanks to Joseph Hoetzl for this dreamy photo.

If you'd like your own picture featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr Pool - We'll highlight an image every day. Remember: we're on the lookout for shots with interesting backgrounds, cool angles, or original composition. Be sure to read the intro on our main Flickr page for more information and limit your uploading to 5 photos per day.

Have a particularly great Halloween photo to share? We're assembling a reader gallery of Cute Costumed Kids -- share your photos in our Flickr pool and check AOL Living's new Holiday Hub starting October 10 to see the full package!

I'm not sure I'd ever want to be famous. There comes a point in everyone's life when they say something they wish they could take back, but when you say it on national television ... well, that's a problem. I'm wondering if Naked Chef star Jamie Oliver is feeling like that now.

The husband and father of two recently admitted that when conceiving his third child with wife Jools, he really, really wanted a boy. So strong was his desire for a son, he did a little experimenting. A specialist had told him that when it comes to conceiving one sex over the other, it was all about "temperature." So Jamie bought an adult diaper, soaked it in water and froze it, cut a hole, then slipped that baby on. Can you say romantic?

Whether it worked or not, the couple doesn't yet know. Jamie and Jools are already parents to Poppy Honey, 6, and Daisy Boo, 5, and have made no secret about their desire to have a son. To see Jamie make his hilarous admission to talk show host Jonathan Ross, watch the (possibly NSFW) video below.

My favorite line? "I actually didn't plan on having this conversation." I bet!

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When I bought both of my daughter's car seats, I did so with the idea in mind that eventually, they would use them as boosters. Silly me. Both came with good safety ratings, sure, but earlier this month, both appeared on the "not recommended" list of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's review of booster seats.

The group recently tested 41belt-positioning booster seats. Thirteen (my two included) did a poor job of improving fit at the lap and shoulder, increasing the chance of injury in a car accident. The IIHS shows parents how a belt should fit here, and also gives an example of a poorly fitting belt. The idea is that the lap belt should fit flat against the top of the thighs, not across the soft abdomen.

The IIHS is calling for the 13 seats that didn't past the test to be redesigned. The good news is that the best booster seats are not the most expensive. In fact, my mom just bought a Graco Turbobooster (the backless model is a recommended seat) for about $19 for her own car. If you, like me, are in the market for a new booster seat, visit the IIHS's website to see their best bets and good bets, as well as those seats that are not recommended.

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One of the things people without school-age kids might not realize is how much the homework requirements have changed- for the parents. When I was a kid, if there was an assignment that require adult assistance at home, parents would have sensibly said, "I had to do that stuff when I was in school. Now I'm done." and that would have been that.

However, between that time and now, some do-gooder parent got a wild pencil stuck in their sharpener and did something fancy like put their kindergartner's three sentence report on fish on a tri-fold board with glitter after driving them to four aquariums in three different states and then laminated everything. Just like that, the bar on homework was raised requiring parental involvement from everyone and now we all suffer. In my years with kids at school I have seen a life-size robot that could do actual math problems (this was a kindergarten project, by the way) and seen a science fair exhibit that explored the likelihood of the existence of worm holes in space (5th grade project, different kid than the robot one.)

This explains how I, someone who grew up with absolutely no idea how her relatives fell on the political spectrum (and still doesn't) and has never allowed a political sign of any nature to be stuck in her lawn, found myself being interviewed by my junior high student on my thoughts on the presidential candidates, it was part of his government class assignment. Students were to ask parents what experiences qualify each candidate to be President of the United States, why that experience is important and then give an example of someone else who had similar experience. Assignments like this are extra painful because you know your child is going to being judged by your responses. You don't want to be the dummy OR the smart ass of the group, but in the off-chance that this teacher might serve on the committee that doles out college scholarship recommendations someday, you don't want your child to be bland and forgettable either.

By the time the interview concluded, I had spent more time mulling my responses than I had deciding what to name the child querying me. Was I coming across as fair? Balanced? Since when did having an 8th grader in the house mean you had to be a political analyst?!

They say it takes a village to raise a child. So far, I've taught mine to walk, talk, use the bathroom, have basic manners, look both ways, say no to drugs, take a bite out of crime, and floss. I'm ready for someone else in the village to step in and help out regarding when it comes to these school assignments.