I absolutely love, love, love this wonderfully illustrated children’s book: “I Love You Through and Through,” by Bernadette Rossetti Shustak.

It’s charming, cute and best of all my son loves it. The illustrations are just like the book cover, large, whimsical, colorful. Each page talks about something you love about your child,

“I love your happy side,

your sad side,

your silly side,

your mad side (which, admittedly, is sometimes hard to read!)

I love your fingers

and toes,

your ears

and nose.”

It goes on, each page with something else we love.

It’s the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day. Go out and buy it today so you can read it to your son or daughter on Feb. 14. You’ll both love it, through and through.

Related:
Product information about “I Love You Through and Through” from Amazon.com.

Balancing motherhood is a craft that is developed over time. Every woman has her own struggles. No mother is immune to trying to strike the correct balance for her or her family. And, that balance isn’t always the same year to year, month to month or even day to day. It’s a constant reevaluation of priorities.

Last night I read a short, to the point, article about balancing motherhood that includes some great insights. I love one quote from Madeleine Albright:

Women’s careers don’t go in straight lines. They zigzag all over the place.”

Women have so many careers, working moms and stay-at-home moms. There is always a job to be done. No matter if all our jobs are paid, they are important and valued. Take a moment today to be happy with your choices. If you aren’t, see what you can do to alter the course you are headed so that you can find some happiness where you are now.

I’ve been wanting to write a post about bubble baths and tell all the moms out there to be sure to take one this month. I think this form of relaxation is empowering — and deserving. But, now we have more reason to take a bath — Yahoo Finance did an article about how to save money and taking bubble baths is number one on its list!

Take bubble baths. If soaking in hot water doesn’t cheer you up, find out what does, because it could stop you from wasteful splurges after a bad day. “Especially in times like these, it’s very important for people…to find other ways [than shopping] to make themselves feel better, whether it’s tantric methods, meditation, Chinese balls, or bubble baths—just do what will not break the bank,” says Ken McDonnell, program director at the American Savings Education Council.

I love you Internet for all the free things you bring my way. Recently I found a Web site where you can print out free coloring pages of the alphabet for your kids to scribble on at their will. Here’s the first one we started using: Alphabet-soup.net.

Then, I did a quick Google search and found trillions of them. With all of these pages to print I wonder if I’ll ever go out and buy a coloring book.

Scene #1: 10:00 a.m., driving down our street to run an errand, one of the neighborhood mothers was in her driveway picking up the morning paper. She is wearing a red flannel top and bottom pajama set that has tiny white reindeer all over it. On her feet she is wearing bright orange Crocs, and her curly blonde hair is not primped for the day. I do the neighborly wave through the window as we drive by and my son says,

“Clown.”

“Yes, sometimes mommies look like clowns,” I reply.

Scene #2: Later in the day, we are driving through town and see what appears to be a bunch of frat boys in the front yard of their house with a makeshift table set up, made from a door on saw horses. On top of this table are several pitchers of what surely is beer — they are all merrily drinking the amber-colored liquid from their clear plastic Solo cups.

“Drinks!” my son exclaims.

“Yes, son, those certainly are some drinks!”