Do you remember looking in the toy store window as a kid and drooling over some toy?  I do.  For me, it was American Girls' Felicity doll.  I still remember how much she cost: $84.00.  That was a massive sum for a 9-year-old girl.  I got about $2 a week in allowance and, after tithing, I saved it all for that doll.  By the time I had saved up all that money, I had something even more valuable than a very exciting package coming to me in the mail.  I had learned financial self control.

Sadly, that value has been lacking in our society as a whole for a while.  The popularity of Keynesian economic policy ("spending our way" out of economic crisis) has given license to our greedy sinful natures.  The entitlement mentality, growing credit card debt, the housing bubble, and even the obesity epidemic all reveal a woeful lack of delayed gratification in our society.

How would the world be different if we relearned to work hard and wait for the good things in life?  Maybe we could find complete satisfaction in what we've earned.  Buying a new car with cash that we've saved; paying off the mortgage on a house that teaches kids to share a room; seeing genuine gratitude on their faces at Christmas...  Perhaps the current economic slump will help us find these simple pleasures again.

RESOURCES
Living With Less So Your Family Has More
Where Keynes Went Wrong: And Why World Governments Keep Creating Inflation, Bubbles, and Busts

Remember when God created man in his image? Well, do you remember hearing about that anyway? I really like Debi Pearl's three ways that men tend to reflect God's image. Maybe you'll recognize your husband among them:

1. Mr. Command Man: These born leaders reflect God's strength. They see the big picture and enjoy being in charge. Respect is very important for these men. Their wives will find themselves adored Queens when they allow their "Command Man" husbands to be the Kings.

2. Mr. Visionary: This man reflects the Holy Spirit's prophetic nature. He sees the details of life and is a shaker, changer, and dreamer. Visionary men are usually either rich or poor, depending on how their often-risky schemes go. They need wives who can enjoy being along for the adventurous ride, but can think objectively and keep their feet from flying too far off solid ground.

If you've ever tried to give a breastfed baby over a certain age a bottle, you'll believe me when I say that our son wasn't interested in that cold plastic thing with formula in it. We tried for several weeks but he would have none of it. Why did we keep failing? Well according to the "Baby Whisperer," Tracy Hogg, we weren't really giving it all we had.

Here's her plan, which worked really well for us:

1. Prepare yourself emotionally for a hunger strike. If your baby has had 4 or more months to enjoy and acclimate to nursing, bottles of formula probably won't be very appealing to him.

This is true for my little boy twice over. He heard plenty of teaching in utero as he came along to the high school Spanish classes I taught. Now, as he is growing, he is seeing the teacher side of Momma more and more. Among other things, I teach him to fall asleep on his own, keep his hands off the electrical cords, use the potty, and brush his teeth. What do you teach your children?

It's an important question to consider as Baby approaches toddlerhood. What do you want to teach him? I am a much better mother when I keep in mind my long and short term goals. To get you thinking, here are just a few of the goals I am implementing with my 11-month-old:

Good sleep is a lot like surfing. Really. Several biological rhythms work together to help us (and our babies!) fall asleep. There are rising and falling temperatures, as well as melatonin and cortisol level cycles.  We want to catch the rising "sleep wave" before it begins to crash into a fussy, overtired baby.

According to Dr. Weissbluth in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, when we time our childrens' naps and night sleep when all three of these cycles are at the right point, good quality sleep will come easily.  This is when the child is beginning to lose steam, but before he catches his "second wind."

You know that Junior can only handle so much action before it's time for a nap. Whether it's too many errands or too late of a nap, nobody likes to see a preschooler who's at the "end of his rope." Yet, many of us parents let ourselves get drained on sleep.

Why? Well, we live in a busy world where we're pushed to "keep up with the Jonses'" activity level. There are so many activities to do and TV shows to watch and websites to keep up on.... and then along comes a baby. At first he's up several times at night to eat, but even when he settles in for some good solid nights of sleep, all that baby care we've done during the day means postponing our "me time" and "us time" until after he's in bed. It can all add up to a late night for Mom and Dad.

I never really contemplated Linus much until I read Dr. Wilkoff's book Is My Child Overtired? in which he explains this little boy in details that ring very true to my "mommy instincts." It's pretty simple really: He needs a nap.

In fact, if we parents aren't careful with how our little ones are allowed to use their blankies or other security objects, they could end up like Linus: napless too soon. Here's how Dr. Wilkoff recommends security objects should be used:

-It lives in the bed. When a child wants his security object, it is usually a sign that he is tired and needs to rest. If the object lives in the bed, he will form the association between that tired I-want-my-blankie feeling and his bed, where he sleeps.

"Ah, blissful marriage... It will meet all my needs!" What single person doesn't believe this just a little bit?

And yet, when the cloud of rice and toule clears, that new spouse wants his needs met too. At first cleaning up after him or scraping off her car in the winter is a joy, but it has a tendency to start feeling like work after a while.

So how do we keep the bliss in marriage? In my immense experience (a year and a half of marriage) I've found that I have to remind myself to take joy in giving.

I love how excited our son gets when he sees me walk in the room. He waves his arms excitedly, squeals, and gives me a big smile. I love being his favorite person!

But I'm so glad I'm not his only caregiver. God gives babies to a Mommy and a Daddy for good reason! Daddy is a valuable asset to the parenting team in many ways. Here are some of my favorites:

Yuck! Dirty diapers! What parent doesn't look forward to the day when they won't have to deal with them any more? As a cloth-diapering mother, I sure did!

When I read in The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems about a method of potty training that begins at 9 months, I decided to give it a try. Ms. Hogg recommends adding "potty time" into Junior's routine after mealtime.