Danielle Braff

Kate Rockwood, center, sits with wife, Rebekah, and kids Levi, 3, and Esther, 4, in their Logan Square home. The Rockwoods faced delays when attempting to buy their home because Kate is self-employed.

How to land a mortgage without a salary. For freelancers, a good home loan is hard to find.

May 30, 2019 at 6:15 p.m.

When millions of Americans look in the mirror, their manager is staring back. Last year, about 41 million people ages 21 and above were self-employed in the United States, according...

Irwin Obispo plays with his 3-year-old daughter, Ava, at their home in Orland Hills, Ill., on Jan. 21, 2018. Ava was born 10 weeks early in 2014.

Dads are more stressed than moms after bringing preemies home

August 19, 2019 at 8:50 a.m.

Baby Ava weighed 2 pounds, 15 ounces when she was born 10 weeks early after her mother had preeclampsia. When she was born in 2014, she didn’t move or cry...

Fallen out of love with your roommate? Find your next one Tinder-style

May 20, 2019 at 1:41 p.m.

After a weekend getaway to Pittsburgh years ago, Julia returned to her Chicago apartment to find clothing, liquor bottles and sex toys cluttering her living room. A giant candle had...

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were married at St. James's Palace on Feb. 10, 1840.

Should you stay friends with your ex on social media? Vote

May 24, 2018 at 1:30 a.m.

Lovisa Tedestedt's Facebook account is littered with ex-boyfriends. Tedestedt has been married for 13 years, and her husband, Magnus, is aware of and accepting of her somewhat unconventional pool of...

Karen Heiting was dropped off at a church in downtown Chicago as an infant. She found her family using ancestry.com last year and met her brothers, pictured in the photograph, Ed Biancalana, left, and Ray Biancalana, who live in Northern California.

Friends could be family. Family could be unrelated. What people are finding out from DNA sites

December 15, 2018 at 5:03 a.m.

When she was an infant, Karen Heiting was abandoned on a doorstep of a church in downtown Chicago. She wasn’t born in a hospital, and she had no identifying information....

Julia Rohan and Mark Vanderhoff work from their home in Chicago on Nov. 27, 2017.

Should you be best friends with your spouse?

December 15, 2018 at 11:16 a.m.

Julia Rohan sits just 1 foot away from her husband in their home office — but after the work day is over, she doesn’t want a break from her best...

Kailey Whipple and husband Ryan Fueller rent out their parking spot in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood.

No car needed: Homeowners get creative with alternative uses for parking spots

May 20, 2019 at 1:40 p.m.

In 2012, Bryan and Jen Danger quit their jobs, rented out their Portland, Ore., house and drove south through Mexico and Central America for 1½ years. When they returned home...

Shayna Harris and her daughter Isabela de la Sancha make dinner together Nov. 20, 2017, at their Chicago home.

Feeling guilty about not spending time with your kids? Here’s what really matters

April 6, 2019 at 6:11 a.m.

Shayna Harris works incredibly long hours at her startup, which leaves very little time to play with her 2 ½-year-old daughter, whose bedtime is 7 p.m., just 1 ½ hours...

Instead of banishing a child to a quiet place to think about what she's done wrong, parents who use time-ins hug the child and talk to her about her feelings.

Time-in versus timeout, which method works better for your child?

December 17, 2018 at 9:33 p.m.

At the ripe old age of 58, timeouts are having a midlife crisis. The parenting method was first coined in the late 1950s to curb disruptive behaviors, and it had...

Michelle Forbes, with her sons Jonny, 18, left, and Jacob, 16, in New Berlin, Ill. Michelle Forbes was sexually abused by a high school teacher starting at age 15. She's now 46 and only two years ago told her parents the details of her abuse.

Creating a comfortable climate at home for kids to talk about sexual assault

December 18, 2018 at 4:58 a.m.

When she was 15, Michelle Forbes’ high school teacher reached up her skirt between her legs. Shortly after, the same teacher brought her to a secluded area in the woods...

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