Today, we get to babysit a toddler for friends. The little angel demon (I know this child) will arrive around noon and will be at our house until tomorrow morning. C and I are both looking forward to it. When her mom asked if she could stay the night (so that mom and dad could not only have an afternoon, but a whole night to themselves) and I said yes without a second’s hesitation, she asked “are you sure?” Here’s the thing- we want to adopt. If we can’t handle one night with a child who meets all of my ideal qualifications- verbal, mobile, potty trained –then we’re in trouble. No, we’re both looking forward to having her over.

And that gives rise to today’s theme for what I’m reading. It’s the kids and family edition.

Let’s start with Broke-Ass Mommy. This post isn’t so much about her daughter, but it is about family relationships, and how her husband recently saved her from both a bat and a snake, enough to give anyone a case of the A-Weebie-Jeebies. I had to laugh, because growing up in a rural area, my cats had been known to bring both into the house- dead or alive.

Jana of Daily Money $hot got to spend the summer being a stay at home mom for the first time- and she was good at it. One of the lessons she took away from the summer? Lessons for our kids pay off, in more than just the obvious ways. She writes My kid’s love of swimming could help with her financial future, and she does this without once mentioning the prize money from a future Olympic gold medal. What a grounded mom she is.

Debt Black Hole is a place for personal finance and geek culture to meet, so obviously I’m a fan. To make me more of a fan, this week, there was a guest post from my good friend Average Joe (and he was everywhere this week) about How Board Games Help Your Pocketbook and Financial Planning, but what it’s really about is how board games can bring a family together in a fun and interactive way. You can bet there will be game nights at our house.

Andrea at So Over This has written a lot about her struggles parenting a child with Asperger’s Syndrome. But her dilemma this week comes from another family member- an adult who doesn’t seem to want to do anything to help herself. It begs the question- How Far Would You Go For Family?

And finally, we get to my favorite family/parenting oriented blog, Another Housewife. It appears that she’s having some database issues going on right now, but I hope she gets them fixed soon. Am I Sorry? Nope (this link may take you to an error message on the blog) is all about how none of us should apologize for things we’re not sorry for. In this case, she’s talking about how she and her husband choose to raise their kids. Their rules and goals are not a judgment on the rest of us, they are just what works best for their family. And you know what, even though I will likely raise a child quite a bit differently than they do, I agree. You do what works for your family, and don’t apologize to the world for being who you are.

And would you believe- we didn’t get a new Yakezie Challenger this week. But that’s okay. I just headed over to the list of all Yakezie Member/Challenger blogs and looked for one I hadn’t read before. Given our theme, I figured Mom’s Plans would fit in perfectly. And I was right. I’m highlighting Melissa’s third update in her Organic Thrifty Food Grocery Challenge. C and I aren’t just starting to eat better because I want to lose weight, but because we want to make the budget shift to mostly organic foods by the time there’s a kid in the picture. For the most part, the chemicals in foods won’t do much to us as adults (and we’re already full of them) but they might cause issues with kids, so we’re looking to make changes. Having a guide along the way can never hurt.