Row of coat hooks on wall with photos over top. Hang purses and coats from hooks baskets for library books, keys and things that needs to leave the house on top of the piece itself.

You may never be ok. That stuff is awful to try to get up. It lingers and lingers!

Thing you can’t forget with a truck is that for many people depending on what they’re doing it’s not a luxury. If your live in a rural area without trash pickup? That’s a big deal! If you’re remodeling a house, it’s better to have your own truck. Yes it’s possible to get by without it, but having been there and done that, we’ve saved tons of time and money using the truck as a tool. Especially if you live rurally outside of the stores delivery area it’s worth it to have it. The other thing that people may not realize is that the basic truck keeps its value a little better than a car. People will drive them for decades (ours is over 20 years old with over 300,000 miles on it) even if it looks like a bucket of rust it still has value as longs as it’s running. A truck is a tool and people who dont live in rural areas don’t get that. Also, it is quite likely that this truck could last for decades, which makes it a great deal in the long run. However, this does depend on one's mindset. If one gets annoyed by the quirks of owning an older vehicle (it might look a little banged up, some of the accessories might not work properly) this is not necessarily true. Our over 20 yr old truck has some rust. A few dents, and the air conditioning doesnt work. We're fine with that. Others who like pristine cars that look good, may not feel the same way.

You are not a whiner. You've had major unavoidable expenses as well as a major loss in the last few months. Complaining/venting is absolutely okay and understandable. It's HARD! And none of these expenses are anything you ever would've wished for. IF it had at least been a vacation or too expensive car you would've had SOMETHING fun with that money. As it is, the bills are kinda a slap in the face when you're already beaten down.

I have three older girls and a boy. I really find the girls less irritating. They were more self aware, so even if they have foolish moments, they passed more quickly and were more ready to admit they over-reacted. My son doesn't realize the over reaction and flat out ridiculousness of his behavior unless we have happened to catch it on video. Some of that, I"m sure is due to personality.

My son is 12. Very twelve. One of us may not make it to see his 13th birthday if this continues. That's all. (I cant decide if the tears, crabbiness, and drama of a 12 yo girl is worse than the drama, loud, irritating, intentionally stupid of a 12 yo boy. And oh yes, they both have drama.)

If I’m not mistaken I think the op means “what if they tell us to stay home while a pandemic occurs.”

We could survive quite awhile as long as the power stayed on. Even the water wouldn't be an issue (well water that we can transfer too if needed) AS LONG AS WE HAVE POWER. BUT... My crew would get so bored and probably mutinous. Food would become something we ate to stay alive, rather than something we enjoyed. We have 2 freezers full of various meats. We have a decent amount of frozen veggies and some fruits. We have chickens who lay eggs, thought they won't lay as well if we run out of layer ration. Especially if it is cold! They could forage well enough to stay alive but probably wouldn't lay. If my cow would have her calf, we'd have milk and butter. If we were to have to lock down the world, Please let it be warm weather. I can grow lettuces and peas and tomatoes and such. But existing on meat and bread would be so boring. Stockpiling for me would be lots of ingredients: Flour, salt, leaveners, fats (crisco and oils) Can get you various types of breads. Oatmeal/grits can give you decent breakfasts, accompanies by egg if you have hens. Meats plus canned veggies are a decent meal. Substitute dried beans if needed or don't have power to keep freezers cold. What scares me most about this scenario is that my dh is considered essential personnel for a utility, so it would be up to me and the kids to contrive most of this stuff. His utility even has MREs and cots in case things get too bad. I do know that he would not leave me helpless. He'd set me up in advance with a generator and fuel. As long as I have that we'll be ok. We do have access to firewood if we need to campfire cook.

Fresh Artichokes were on sale today and I impulsively bought one. But I’ve never prepared one before. Tell me what to do with this weird looking thing!

Why is it that nobody thinks to mention that they are out of deodorant, toothpaste, soap or other essentials until I an unpacking groceries from the weekly store run?

Same.

Not catholic but no stranger to heavy theological conversations with kids. If you’re interested...

I kinda know what LC is going for though. There are those who do not care for the weaker because it is inconvenient to them. And that inconvenience leads (for many) to unhappiness. I do believe though that many people simply live most of their adult lives with no financial or physical (as far as time, energy and space) margin. If an elder or someone else becomes ill, its not just a matter of switching around a few things in ones schedule. Often because there is little margin to their lives, it is a complete and total overhaul of their work, after work, and family commitments. Some of that is by choice (packing ones schedule with work, after work commitments, and allowing their children to fill their time in similar ways) some of it is not by choice at all. Single parents (as pointed out in the article) generally have no choice. Someone has to do laundry, clean house, and do the grocery shopping for a family at the end of a long work day.

Most of the situations that I am aware of, the aging parent doesn't come to be a "helper" to the family. The aging parent comes after they are no longer able to be independent and end up there by default. I do believe that some of the writer's assumptions are a stretch.

IT seems that the Protestant churches that I have been a part of fully embrace extroverted expressions of faith but often struggle to relate to more introverted ones. For instance. We are told to "be still and know that I am God." This, as an introvert, is my wheelhouse. I LOVE being alone with just me and God. And yet, we are also told to "go into all the world and spread the Gospel." and all those "one another" verses where I'm supposed to be speaking life into others and allowing them to speak life into me. Because the extroverted actions can be SEEN, in many churches those are emphasized as important parts of faith. BUT WE ARE CALLED TO DO BOTH. Yeah, even me, introverted persona that I am, need to reach out and allow others to impact me as well (which means I need to slightly lower my defenses and let people in sometimes) It's like in the church overall there's a huge appreciation for the extroverted Sunday School teacher, youth worker who corrals large mobs of people on a regular basis, but the understated introverted Christian who has one on one discussions with co-workers, who quietly prays with intensity for the needs of others, who has in depth knowledge of scripture because they LOVE being alone with the Bible are just kind of invisible. (and many introverts like the invisibility of it) And by emphasizing certain extroverted characteristics, the introverts who are new to a congregation want to run screaming from the building each week. It took my dh and I (both introverts) years to feel connected, like we were a part of the congregation that we've attended now for almost 20 years. And we were okay with that. But I couldn't blame that on the congregation. I just take time to warm up to people. I also think that when we got a more introverted pastor it really helped with the dynamics of our church. Overall, what has helped out church was: A variety of Sunday School classes with a variety of sizes with varying ages in each one. Some people don't want to be cataloged by their age. (I had a wide range of ages with my kids, so when I had a toddler and a high schooler, a group based upon parenting stage was just not applicable.) Also, adult classes that vary by interest and depth of the Scripture. To get to know one another, my dh and I preferred different ways to meet people. Big bustling church fellowships felt overwhelming to us. (we still skip them) While smaller trips to a ball game or get together are better. And no, the trendy thing of meeting for bible studies and prayer meetings in someone's home won't work for me. By the time I figure out who is leading, which group is a good fit, which one is close to my house and find directions for it, I'm done. Too much work.