The whole point of a vacation is to leave your worries behind and enjoy some time away from home. But what happens when you suddenly realize that you forgot to record your favorite show -- or that, when teenagers are left at home, sometimes they throw parties? Fortunately for you (but not for the teens), technology allows you to manage your home life (and home) while you’re away.

Control your TV

Remember how frustrating it was programming your old VCR? Well, those days are over, thanks to Digital Video Recorders like TiVo. You don’t have to worry about running out of tape with a DVR as it records video to a hard drive, similar to a computer. A current DVR like the TiVo Premier can save more than 45 hours of high-definition video.

Programming a DVR to keep up with your favorite shows is a snap thanks to user-friendly interfaces that allow you to simply tell the device which shows you want to watch. In fact, you don’t even need to be home to set up a recording. Many DVR brands, such as those from TiVo, DirecTV and Dish Network, now allow you to program your DVR from a mobile phone or laptop. Too bad it’s summer and everything is in re-runs. And by everything, I mean Chuck.

Did you know that Best Buy has its own showcase on TiVo? Well we do.

Watch your TV

It’s one thing to be able to record your shows remotely, but what if you could watch them while you’re away? Well, that’s exactly what you’ll be able to do if you set up a Slingbox.

Once you attach a Slingbox to your home theater system, cable box or DVR, connect the Slingbox to your high-speed Internet broadband connection. Then you can remotely access those video sources as if you were in your own living room.

Using the Sling software on your laptop or compatible mobile phone, you can change the channels, watch live TV, program your DVR and watch recorded shows anywhere you have Internet access. The best part is that there are no monthly fees for the remote viewing service. Plus, changing the channel from across the country makes you feel like Zeus.

Android lovers rejoice! The Slingbox app is now available at the Android Market.

Watch your home

Now that you can watch your TV remotely, how about watching your home? If you can’t quite relax on vacation without seeing what’s going on in your house, you might want to look into an Internet security camera.

You don’t need an expensive security system to provide you with remote video of your house, thanks to a growing number of wireless products such as Logitech’s WiLife Security Camera System or Panasonic’s Network Surveillance Camera.

Both systems come with one camera, but you can add more cameras to cover the areas you want to monitor. Each camera you add joins the network wirelessly, reducing the amount of work required to set them up.

Once in place, the cameras can record video to your computer’s hard drive, in case you need to search and view footage later. They can also be set up to detect motion in their field of view and send alerts via text message or email. Panasonic’s system allows you to view footage through a secure website from any remote Internet connection. The WiLife also allows you to see captured video remotely using your mobile phone. It’s the next best thing to being there!

WiLife’s Outdoor security system comes with one camera, but you can expand it up to six.

Control your home

With home control and automation that uses Z-Wave, you can reach out and manage your home while on vacation in ways you won’t believe. Z-Wave-based devices use a low-power radio network to talk to each other, creating an intelligent “mesh” that allows you to control a range of diverse items with little or no wiring.

The Schlage LiNK system uses Z-Wave devices to control, monitor and secure your home. Need to let someone into your house while you’re away? Well, now you can with wireless keypad locks. Forgot to turn off the air conditioning before you left? A Z-Wave-compatible Trane Remote Energy Management Thermostat allows you to control your home’s heating and cooling system remotely. Want to turn some lights on? The GE Z-Wave lighting control module is up to the task. Want your lawn mowed? Hire the neighbor kid, because Z-Wave can’t do that. Yet.

This Keypad deadbolt system from Schlage lets you assign each member of the family a different personalized code.

Monitor your kids

Your ideal vacation sometimes (but only sometimes) might not involve your kids. If you’re away on that second honeymoon, there are a few options to give a worried parent piece of mind.

The Insignia Little Buddy Child Tracker is a small GPS device that you can pack in a backpack or lunchbox. The device uses cellular communication technology for real-time updates on your child’s location, and text message alerts can be set up if your kid leaves specified areas during times you set.

With Little Buddy, you can locate your kid (or kids) on a map.

For teenagers, you might consider adding a service such as Verizon’s Family Locator. It can monitor where your teen’s cell phone is and receive scheduled updates when he or she arrives at or leaves certain locations. If your teen has a compatible smartphone with GPS, you may be able to use a free service such Google Latitude as well.

Now if you could only control your kids with a joystick, you’d be set.