I couldn’t help but feel a little smug throughout 2008 when I read the reports of hysterical investment bankers as they tried to convince federal regulators to clamp down on short selling.
The real estate market had finally crashed with a vengeance and the banks were left holding far too many derivatives based on sub-prime mortgages, particularly at  Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, the weakest of the big five Wall Street firms, none of which survived the year.
After a while, it became predictable, their pleas for intervention.

Getting teenagers and stoic partners to share their days, thoughts and feelings has to be at the top of every mother's top 10 "things that make me nuts" lists. (I am sure it makes fathers and other guys nuts, too, but I'm talking about mothers right now.)

You know how it goes. "How was your day"? "Fine." "Anything interesting happen at work"? "Nah." "Are you OK"? "Sure." The series of yes-and-no questions that pass for conversation rarely end well. "You never talk to me." "You never stop nagging." Etc.

They are especially frustrating for talkers, those folks who like sharing. For the silent types, they probably are just fine, but then you'll never know what's really happening in your child's or partner's life.

So, what to do? Start by saying "I got on the bus...." (Two syllables for bus and a little uptalk at the end are nice touches.) Sharing each step of the day is bound to offer up a topic or two for conversation, especially if you ask a couple questions along the way. Like maybe, "so who'd you sit with on the bus and what did they say"?

We started asking the bus question of our then six-year-old son, and we continued to ask it as a teenager, when he went off to college (gaad, those dreadful, silent phone calls....), and occasionally even today. My mother and I exchange on-the-bus e-mails, long or short, chatty notes filled with the little things we're doing that day, a fleeting thought, a casual comment. We just start with "I got on the bus...."

Sounds goofy, I know. But it works. It has bee a rare occasion over 25 years that "I got on the bus..." failed to sustain a real conversation.

Few of us have newsworthy days and we assume we have nothing worth sharing. It's just so much effort to try to come up with something to talk about. Yet, it is the little stuff of an everyday that weaves itself into a life. Capturing those little things is important.

Try it. Just say "I got on the bus...."

When it's foggy and rainy, you need a pick-me-up.

IIf you're looking forward to golf as much as I am, put this on your calendar. The Executive Women’s Golf Association (EWGA) Rock River Valley Chapter kickoff will be at 5:30 p.m. March 17 at Noonan's (Aldeen Golf Club) in Rockford. I used to be a member: The organization offers leagues, outings, lessons and networking.

What else is going on?

-- I was just talking yesterday about how the workplace is going to become so much more diverse. Today, this story: This year, minority babies could outnumber those born to nonHispanic whites.

-- Three people already paused to tell me that Corey Haim died.

-- The Rockford School Board extended the teachers' contract for a year.

-- United Way did well considering the rough economy last year.

The big story of the day is this one.

At 10:30 a.m. today, an advisory group will recommend the MetroCentre Board be transformed and function as the single authority that manages Rockford entertainment venues, including the MetroCentre arena, Coronado Performing Arts Center and Davis Park.

The report, which you can view here, comes after nine months of work by a group that makes up the Downtown Venus, Festivals and Special Events Advisory Group.

The report calls for a reduction in subsidies for downtown venues with a $1 million cap, new and more stringent demands for revenue generation, shared office staff and departments, and greater accountability.

I have a few things on my mind on a Monday morning, so I can tie them together under the theme, "What are you willing to give up?"

1. I hear that the Harlem School Board is considering major changes tonight, including cuts to paraprofessionals and preschool. As someone whose child has benefited from both, I'm not pleased. And while most people are familiar with preschool and why early childhood education is important, fewer people know what paras do. Even I had to ask my daughter last night what her para's name is. These classroom assistants often do invisible work. I'd like to learn more about their work and why their pay is on the low end.

2. I've given up soda (mostly), more driven by cost than Lent. If I'm only drinking caffeine-free, sugar-free soda, why not just drink water?

I keep hearing lately that diet soda is worse for you than regualr soda. I have yet to find an authoritative source on that one.

There were few surprises in Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey's State of the City address Thursday, as Morrissey instead focused on what he sees are the biggest threats to Rockford's growth in the wake of the recession.

The largest, of course, is public pensions, those antiquated programs meant to provide for workers upon retirement that have been plaguing local governments across the country. The problem is particularly pernicious in Illinois, where decades of unfunded mandates at the state level have hobbled cities and school districts, leaving them holding one very expensive bag.

Particularly frustrating to Morrissey is the fact that there's nothing he can do about it. State government -- the same one that's been pandering to the public unions by throwing them little bones over the years and leaving it to municipal governments to find the money -- has to take up the issue. All Rockford can do is urge residents to call our state representatives.

But with Democrats in charge in Springfield, the odds of anyone in the political class finding the will to take on Big Labor are slim at best. Which means local governments continue to struggle under the weight of those obligations, which by any measure are hopelessly expensive.

Unfortunately for Rockford, there are no easy answers to the dilemma. And as the city -- and the state -- still suffering from the recession, no solutions look to be particularly forthcoming.

Complaining about the Rockford School District is like complaining about the weather. People do it all the time.

So don't miss this small piece of good news: Students at the two new charter schools have made academic gains in reading and math.

I have mixed feelings about charter schools. While I'm glad that they are successful, why can't we force the same results in plain ol' schools?

Another bit of school news, then, you might not want to miss is a broader district initiative to form community partnerships and put pilot programs that, if successful, can be implemented across the board. It's called Alignment Rockford, modeled after a program in Nashville. Sounds good to me.

    Prediction: Joe Bruscato will never lose an election. Not as long as Rockford women have memories.
    OK, that’s fraught with hyperbole, but the Winnebago County State’s Attorney was, to the best of my counting, the only elected public official to attend Monday’s 30th annual YWCA Leader Luncheon at Giovanni’s. Seated at the guest speaker’s table, Bruscato stood and waved to the crowd when the obligatory “now let’s applaud our elected officials” part of the program came around.

I am a mom to two boys -- Luke who is 8 today, and Abe, 7. My goal is to raise these two boys to be strong, wonderful men who appreciate the women in their lives.

It's so important to me, and I found myself thinking about that during Monday's YWCA Leader Luncheon in which area women were celebrated.

It's important to grow young girls into strong women. I learned so much from my mother, who made meals before she went to her full-time, second-shift job so that we would always have homecooked food each evening. I am pretty sure she never slept.

My boys may not see me cooking them meals each night, but they do have a single mom who works hard to ensure they have everything they need. I want them to appreciate and respect me because that's where it starts. 

With God's grace, that's already happening.

And one day these two boys will celebrate two women who they embrace and support and respect.

I already have anxiety about "the teen years" coming up, but this weekend's spotlight on two sets of outstanding teens who have made their parents proud gave me the reality check I needed. Plus a sense of pride in the Rock River Valley, which we so often talk about needing.

1. On Friday, the Rockford Association for Minority Management Scholars Banquet honored 27 high school seniors for their academic achievements and community involvement -- and gave them college scholarships. See their smiling faces here; they aspire to be physical therapists, meteorologists, doctors, lawyers and engineers. Good for them!

2. Four high school teams are competing in a big robotics competition with the hopes of making it to nationals next month. One child's delight in "putting stuff together" can mean a bright future in engineering. (I only wish I were so mechanically inclined; check out the videos at the bottom of the story!)