I mostly ignore winks. I figure if a guy is REALLY interested in me, he'll write an email.
Plus, you can wink if you haven't paid for Match, so I figure some of the guys winking are too cheap to join!
I have to say, I am seeing a somewhat younger hipper crowd on OKCupid, I don't know if the same holds true for the women, but it is a free site and you might check it out.
Yes, it would be great to just meet someone the traditional way - and since you have kids, you might meet single moms at school events etc. But I do think the online thing gives you an ability to screen for certain things that can be useful too. (Education, for instance , in my case - I need a really smart guy, and even if a guy doesn't have an advanced formal education, if he's really smart, it usually shows in his profile).
