Be Intentional

I just finished reading The Duggar's new book, "20 and counting." I know some people don't agree with their methods, but I think their outcomes are hard to beat. The book was very informative and inspirational. I finished the book feeling inspired to be an intentional parent. It is important to not get so busy with all the "stuff" that I forget to teach, train, and enjoy the precious gift God has given us.



The Duggars shared about the way they make, save, and spend money. They also wrote about their family practices, discipline, and education. They talked a lot about consistency when training their children, which got me thinking about this new journey I am on and where I have already been.

I am new to being a mom, but as a teacher I learned a little bit about consistency. I had to crack a few tough cookies as a teacher. While working with children with disabilities, I dealt with a lot of behavior issues that I had to figure out and received lots of advice and assistance. The greatest lesson I learned was to be consistent. I had kickers, hitters, cussers, screamers, fighters, criers, etc. If my assistant and I stuck with our plan consistently it worked. Behavior plans are not easy because situations change, it is time consuming, and just plain hard to stay calm. However, it always amazed me that at the end of a two or three week period our problem was normally completely fixed or manageable. Some plans consisted of time out every time a behavior occurred, another plan might have been to read a book, and another would be me being consistent with my tone and answers. Managing unacceptable behavior isn't easy, but it is necessary.

What always amazed me at the end of one of these behavior modification issues is that the child would always hug me at the end of the day, give me a huge smile, and tell me they would see me the next day. Now if you had seen me sticking to my guns during that long 7 hours of the day that may have lasted for weeks, you may have thought that I was mean or that the child would be angry with me. Nope. Children love to have boundaries. They love consistency. They love knowing that you care enough to correct them. In the heat of battle I may have gotten hit or screamed at, but at the end of the day I would hear, "I love you, see you tomorrow." WOW!

Back to the Duggars. Some people may think they are too strict or that some of their methods are a little foreign, but I can promise you that most children would thrive in that atmosphere. Not an overbearing or strict atmosphere, but a home filled with a balance of freedom, love, consistency, and intentional parenting.

Life Story

I am not sure who Becky Higgins is, but she has some great files available to make your own life story book. I love history (thanks daddy) and feel like this is a great way to make sure your story lives on. Check it out. Becky's Blog

(I read a little more on Becky's blog and it seems that she is scrapbook queen.)

Meal Planning

Here I am with the only cake I have ever made. This is also the last picture of my pregnant belly before Haven came 2 months early.

I really struggle with cooking and I think this may help me from being overwhelmed.

This idea from: LifeOrganizers.com

Make meals easy, by creating a 21 day meal rotation plan. This creates enough variety so that no one gets bored, but it also takes away the stress of figuring out what to make for supper. Include a few no-cook meals in the plan.

This idea from: Simplemom.net

Monday: Mexican

Tuesday: Asian

Wednesday: Italian

Thursday: Eat out

Friday: Grill out (meat and veggies)

Saturday: Eat out or Something new

Sunday: salad/soup/sandwiches

What do you think?

Train up...

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it."

Here's Charles Swindoll's commentary on this scripture from his book Parenting From Surviving to Thriving.

This verse in most biblical manuals has a standard interpretation that goes something like this: "Rear your children as moral, upright, God-fearing, churchgoing kids. Be sure they carry a Bible to church, attend lots of Sunday school classes, and each summer attend Christian camps. Enforce your rules and regulations with consistency and discipline. Make sure they learn the Ten commandments, the Golden Rule, and several key verses of Scripture. Teach them to pray, and be sure they come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. After all, they're eventually going to sow their wild oats as they are certain to rebel. They'll live in that rebellious lifestyle for a while, then, once their oats are sown and they tire of their fling with the wild side of life-when they're old and decrepit-they'll come back to the Lord...but only if you raised them right!"

He thens shares the Hebrew origin of the scripture and ends with this paraphrase of this proverb with the translations in mind: "Cultivate a thirst, initiate a hunger, create an appetite for spiritual things in the lives of children of any age, as long as they are living under your roof, and do it in keeping with they way they are bent-disciplining the disobedience and the evil while affirming and encouraging the good, the artistic, the beautiful. As children begin to grow into adults, theirs paths will be aimed directly toward the Savior, and they will continue to walk in His sovereignty."

iCatalogs

Hopefully all catalogs will be paperless soon! iCatalogs is trying to put all catalogs in one location. Wouldn't that be great? Check this out.

What are iCatalogs?
iCatalogs are paperless catalogs packed with products and deals from your favorite brands.

Use iCatalogs at Catalog Choice or click "Get & Share" to put the iCatalog on your desktop, home page or email it to a friend.

iCatalogs are a new service from Catalog Choice connecting brands and consumers to go paperless. Any purchase you make through your iCatalog supports our free mail preference service.

Stores that have linked up with iCatalogs so far:
Crate & Barrel
UncommonGoods
Sierra Trading Post
Plow & Hearth
Smith & Hawken
Eastern Mountain Sports
Swell
Lucky Brand

Stop Junk Mail and Aggravating Phone Calls

If you haven't already you should check out these websites and cut down on junk mail and phonecalls. This will not only alleviate some paper clutter, but it will also free up some time.

1) OptOutPrescreen.com

OptOutPrescreen. com is a centralized service to accept and process requests from consumers to "Opt-In" or “Opt-Out” of firm offers of credit or insurance. OptOutPrescreen. com is a joint venture among Equifax Information Services, LLC, Experian Information Solutions, Inc., Innovis Data Solutions, Inc., and TransUnion, LLC (collectively the "Consumer Credit Reporting Companies"). via phone by dialing 888-5 OPT-OUT (888-567-8688) This allow the consumer to opt out for five years.

2) www.catalogchoice.org

Catalog choice allows you to opt out of catalogs of your choice.

3) www.dmachoice.org

Direct Marketing Association provides a variety of opt out options for consumer assistance. However, the consumer will have to register on line or download the form and mail.

4) National Do Not Call List www.donotcall.gov