Remember when life was as idyllic as " Leave It to Beaver ?” Dads went to work, and moms stayed home, packed school lunches, baked cookies, cleaned the stove and took care of the children. If Wally and "the Beav” had to come home to an empty house and fend for themselves until their parents got home from their demanding jobs, would they have become upstanding members of society? Who knows?

Today, as many as 25 perc...