Home Is My Happy Spot

State Departments of Education Drafting Fall Protocols for Schools When school resumes in the Fall, do you want your kids wearing masks all day in class? If you answered "yes," this post is not for you.  Move on.  This post is for patriots who understand the mandating of masks is a tyrannical move that violates our freedom. Many state departments of education are in the process of drafting return-to-school protocols, where mandatory mask-wearing will be required for teachers, faculty, and students.  Since nothing is written in stone, especially as we wait to see how re-opening the country will unfold, now is the time to speak up in protest. This is so wrong!  (Getty Images) Here's How You Can Take Action Against Mandatory Student Mask-Wearing There are a few things you can do to make your voice heard: Local districts may be granted flexibility from your state, so contact your superintendents and school board members .  Simply Google "(Name o...

Some Parents Are Idiots The days are warmer, and everyone is spending more time outdoors.  That includes the neighbor kids, who may have developed the bad habit of extending their boundaries into your yard and personal space. The real culprits here are the parents.  Common sense should guide parents to remind their kids where the invisible boundaries are between houses, but this overly narcissistic generation shows little regard for anyone but themselves. If you try to be pleasant and cordial with your neighbors for the sake of getting along, this may be misconstrued as a welcome invitation to invade your personal space at will. A "kid person" loves interacting with the neighborhood children and doesn't regard them dotting the lawn as an invasive species. Others are only "kid people" with their own kids and don't appreciate uninvited company. Thoughtless parents with no respect of your privacy or personal property put you in a pickle.  They ...

Americans are a busy people.  We have places to go, things to do, and people to see. The Coronavirus has brought all of that to a screeching halt. We can dwell on what we're missing out on, or we can seek a silver lining. The Bible says in Romans 8:28: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. That's good news!  Even when bad things happen, God can make something good come out of it! While we shouldn't minimize the brevity of a global pandemic and its fallout--sickness, economic hardship, finding childcare with schools closed, and foraging for toilet paper--we can find creative ways to make the best of a bad situation. People Get a Taste of What Socialism is Like Grocery lists are now wish lists. Items we take for granted to always be on the shelves are missing.  Bread, canned fruit, rice, beans, eggs, meat--all of the necessary staples--are gone or in minimal quantit...

Birthday Parties Were Once Rare When did it become the new normal for parents to plan big birthday bashes for their kids, costing hundreds of dollars each year? Growing up in the 1980's, it was a rare thing for someone to have a birthday party.  For those lucky few who did, it was a casually thrown-together affair at their homes, consisting of chips and cake.  Seldom was anything epic like pizza served.  Guests brought small token gifts, never exceeding five dollars.  Extravagant parents hosted parties at McDonald's, long before play equipment was even installed. We didn't realize how rough we had it--because we didn't. Birthday Parties Are Now Entitlements Today, parents shower their kids with birthday parties on a yearly basis, starting at age one when the parties won't even be remembered. Is it about celebrating their children or competing with other parents? It certainly seems like parents are trying to out-do each other, as if their...

Few people crave soup during the summer months, but a steaming bowl in winter is comforting and warms you from head to toe. It can be a challenge to find a delicious soup recipe that isn't complicated, requires simple ingredients, and can come together in a snap.  Here are four you will want to try. 1.  Chicken Noodle Soup There have been countless spins on this homemade classic, but it's a soup that tastes best when you take a "less is more" approach.  You won't find any fancy ingredients or spices in this one, and its simplicity is what makes it traditional and delicious! Image:  Mine Ingredients  Servings: 6 3-4 chicken thighs, boiled, separated from bone, and shredded 3 medium carrots, sliced 1 stick celery, diced 1 small onion, diced 3 14.5 oz. cans chicken broth 1 teaspoon chicken base 1 teaspoon parsley 8 oz. uncooked egg noodles Directions Place chicken thighs in soup pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil.  C...

Image courtesy of sattva at FreeDigitalPhotos.net What do your kids want for Christmas? The latest smartphone, iPad, tablet, or video game? Kids love technology, but excessive screen time is damaging their ability to socially engage, deal with delayed gratification, and use their imaginations to create limitless fun. High tech has its benefits and is here to stay, but that doesn't mean parents have to allow their kids to be consumed by it.  Forget keeping up with the Jones's--stand up to the societal pressure to conform.  Just because other parents are indulging their kids in electronics and devices doesn't mean you should too. It's your job to look out for your kids' best interests, so invest in gifts they will not only love, but that will boost their creativity and harness their natural curiosity, interests, and strengths. S.T.E.M. Gifts Science, technology, engineering, and math are the career paths of the future.  You can help your kids prepare...

Image courtesy of Bill Longshaw at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Stores are brimming with irresistibly hot buys.  Toys are flying off the shelf, and you're frantically trying to find time to finish snagging what you've selected from a pile of wish lists. Maybe you've avoided the crowds and shopped online this year. What have you been eyeing?  A sparkly sweater?  A new kitchen gadget?  Do you even have room for one more thing? Do your kids want toys that take up too much space? Mary and Joseph were turned away from an inn because there was no room for them--maybe if the innkeeper just cleared out a backlogged room, he could have changed the whole story!  If you have family staying with you this Christmas, make room.  It can take a few hours or an entire weekend (though extra time is scarce this time of year) to perform a much needed pre-holiday purge, but you can enlist the whole family to help. Select Targets For Your Pre-Holiday Purge Dependi...