Adding a new hobby is another fabulous Sanity Saver that sharpens the saw. For Christmas, we gave our daughter a paint-by-numbers horse picture. Thinking we could share some artistic bonding time, and still count it for productive parenting, I chose one also.

Who knew the obsession that awaited? Painting gave me a surprising calm and peace — calm because I didn't have to figure out what to paint, and peace because during that time my children were busy wrestling with their father. I felt a sense of accomplishment upon finishing the first one, which actually looked good 20 feet away. And though I am not a good artist, this has been such a joyful addition to my life, and in more ways than one.

A few weeks ago, my eldest son, of his own volition, purchased a painting board, too, and actually asks me to paint with him. Just the other day I heard my 8-year-old daughter talking with her friends — she found my picture board and told them I had done it myself, using a voice of pride that I only knew from doing the same thing about her.

As Prager says in his analogy of fun to food, "(Fun is the spice of life). We cannot live on spice alone ... but food without spice renders eating more of a chore than a joy."

This week, get back the joy and some spice, or some salsa, with a few of your own Sanity Savers.

LIFETip: Choose a new talent, hobby or pastime that brings you joy, and schedule 15 minutes to do it this week.

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