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Guest post by Liz Long

I can’t control whether or when the government decides to pass laws that do things like make light bulbs cost $50, interfere with my Second Amendment rights (we visit DC, which is very anti-gun), print more money, or any of the hundreds of other ways they can and do make our lives more difficult.

I can’t control how business goes for my husband’s employer. There isn’t really much any of us can do to ensure our family continues to have a paycheck coming in.

I am a stay at home mom. I can and am trying to find work I can do virtually, including writing and blogging (about civics and American history, not prepping related), to bring in money but I have no idea how successful they will be, and my kids definitely affect my ability to actually do it, which is why the blog isn’t actually launched yet.

I can’t control much of my children’s schedules (when homework increases or a special project pops up), or when anyone gets sick or injured. I can’t control the weather or disasters, man-made or natural. I can’t control the price of oil or gasoline.

I can, however, buy groceries when I see them on sale and stock up so that I don’t have to run out for food when someone gets sick on grocery-shopping day or a big school project sucks up too much time and I can’t get out. I can start gardening so I have fresh vegetables and herbs to encourage my family to actually eat them. I can add a few things every time I go to the pharmacy so that whenever any of us get hurt, we have bandages, splints, elastic bandages, anti-bacterial creams, etc. when we need them. I can stock up on medicine so even if both my children get fevers within a week of each other that only goes down with Advil AND Tylenol every few hours, I don’t run out. And I can buy shoes and clothing when I find them on sale so when my children have a growth spurt, they have shoes and clothing to wear and I don’t have to race out to find something – anything! – they can wear to school.

Besides, I love gadgets and it’s a great excuse for some cool new gadgets, like my Cobb Grill and Sun Oven.

These are things I can control and I can do to protect my family in a world where so many things are beyond my control, particularly as a stay at home mom with a child in public school. Each can of soup, every box of bandages, every pair of socks to be grown into is a small step, but all of them taken together can lead to security for my family.

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