Do You Have A Little Princess At Home?

Updated on Friday, December 11, 2009 at 10:35PM by MAD21

By Peter (Rediscovering the Church)

Do you wonder how you can teach her to be the beautiful person God made her to be?

If so, Lady in Waiting for Little Girls: Strengthening the Heart of Your Princess might be just the book you are looking for.

Beauty is much more than just an outward appearance, it’s an attitude of the heart and mind yet this culture bombards us with the idea that beauty is all about how you look.

Lady in Waiting for Little Girls has a series of lessons each of which include a short Bible story and a fun activity that mother and daughter can share together. Each lesson teaches a character trait and gives examples of how it was displayed by a woman in the bible and how it looks in life today.

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Can Eating Candy Lead To Crime?

By MAD21

Ok. So my hubby sent me this story last week and when I saw the title, I was like, "Oh, common! Seriously?" I've had a few of those reactions this week, like here.

Yahoo News posted the story, "Eating Candy in Childhood Linked to Adult Crime." I almost didn't read it because it seems like just another one of those articles full of quotes from people/researchers who have gone off the deep end. But I was intrigued.

There seems to actually be some legitimate research to back up their claims. Even the researchers were skeptical at their results so they tried to eliminate and switch around their control factors. No matter what factors they changed, the results were the same.

"The research was led by Simon Moore, a senior lecturer in Violence and Society Research at Cardiff University in the U.K., who specializes in the study of vulnerable youngsters. Moore had been investigating the factors that lead children to commit serious crimes, when, during the course of his work, he discovered that "kids with the worst problems tend to be impulsive risk takers, and that these kids had terrible diets - breakfast was a Coke and a bag of chips," he says.

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The Paideia of the Lord

By Jason, M.Ed., M.A.R., Headmaster

I’d like to take a moment to speak as a father to other fathers. Dads, have you read Ephesians 6:4 lately? As a husband and a father, I am always convicted whenever I read Ephesians 5 and 6. In Ephesians 5:25-31, God commands me to love my wife as Christ loves the church, to lay down my life for her well-being, for her ultimate good. Then, in Ephesians 6:4, God commands me with these words, “do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

As I reflect on this verse as a dad, I think of all the things I do that tend to provoke my children to anger. God isn’t telling me to just give my children everything they ask for as soon as they ask for it so they’ll never be upset. Actually, that kind of spoiling and over-indulging usually leads to kids who are even angrier because the answer cannot always be yes. Children are provoked to anger when their dads are inconsistent, hypocritical or overly controlling. As a sinner prone to all three of these faults, I find great reason to pray for forgiveness and grace when I examine my own behaviors.

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You Know You Have A Big Family When...

By Megan (Steps for Brady)

1. Your lineup of plates at dinner time resembles what you remember your elementary cafeteria counter looking like.

2. Your recycling bin fills up by mid week because your kids eat a jar of applesauce during one meal.

3. Sorry mom, you can't ride with us, we don't have any empty seats in the van.

4. After looking at the pile of socks you are buying, the check out lady at Target asks you if you are a teacher doing some sort of art project with your class.

5. Hmmmm...where to put the baby's Christmas stocking on the mantel...things are getting tight up there!

6. You start to consider all the benefits of buying a conversion van.

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Enforcing Bedtimes Improves Kids' Health

By MAD21

CNN reports on the latest findings for studies done on the sleep patterns of children. Their outcomes are rather obvious and expected to me, but it's still interesting to read about their studies and the conclusions they came to. The experts stated:

"Setting bedtimes can improve sleep quality and quantity for infants and toddlers, according to a growing body of research. Not getting enough sleep affects children's behavior, memory, attention, and emotional well-being, experts said."

The article also lists the appropriate amount of sleep people should be getting based on their age. It's good to know so we at least have a baseline for how much sleep our kids should be getting. As with everything in life, it takes discipline to keep to a bedtime routine, both for the kids, and for the parents. I know I usually plan to go to bed at a certain time, but always find myself with "just one more thing to do."