Freedom to Worship.

Whatever your religious persuasion, you have the freedom to worship in the USA. This is a right that must be protected as we observe many of our rights being challenged today. We are under great assault by individuals and groups that dislike the USA and are trying to destroy what we have.

Thank People who made a Difference in our life.

Often the only recognition a person receives is in a eulogy at their funeral. We need to take the time to say thanks or at least drop them a card with a short note of gratitude. Most often, people are admired and have influence on others without ever knowing it occurred. Observation of others is one of the most inspirational acts that take place continually.

Our Health.

Protecting your health is a paramount requirement in life. Without good health, little else can be accomplished and nothing else really matters. It is a sobering fact that any defect in our physical body can eventually lead to death. Gratefulness for our health condition, whatever that may currently be, is wise as our bodies are designed to heal.

Things we Have.

Possessions are good but can become burdensome if they are allowed to be our main focus in life. Here is a great line by Wale Ayeni, “Be thankful for what you have. Your life, no matter how bad you think it is, is someone else’s fairytale.” If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?

Tuckright® is grateful for the families using the Blanket Suspenders®. 

Gratitude Roundup Quotes.

Gratitude is the mark of a noble soul and a refined character. We like to be around those who are grateful. They tend to brighten all around them. They make others feel better about themselves. They tend to be more humble, more joyful and more likeable. Joseph B. Wirthin

Gratitude turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity… it makes sense of or past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. Melody Beattie

Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are. Marianne Williamson

Choosing to be positive and have a grateful attitude is going to determine how you are going to live your life. Joel Osteen

Teaching Gratitude to Children

Most importantly we must pass along the important things in life to the children. Gratitude is one of those significant items in life that can easily get overlooked. “The Secret to Teaching Gratitude during the Holidays” is a great article for this purpose.

What are you grateful for this season? Share with us in the comments below!

Long Roots of Small Businesses

However, the small business identity is like an iceberg. What you see is only its tip of the iceberg above the water line. Same is true with a small business. What you may see is the store front or the website. But behind that website face to the public, is a super-sized amount of support infrastructure employing hundreds of people in other small businesses. So, when you purchase goods and services from a small, online business, you are actually impacting many more people’s lives than normally expected. Here the cliché that “less is more” is actually true.

Perfect Illustration

A great example of today’s small, online business that has a supersized support structure is Tuckright® LLC. This decentralized, virtual business model takes advantage of economy of scale, utilizing specialists that can accomplish each task at the most economical cost. This is copied from Dell Computers, one of the original pioneers in this decentralized, virtual organization. Below is a listing of all the people that are involved in our US based, virtual, small, online business supplying Tuckright® Blanket Suspenders® to you, the ultimate consumer.

Accounting Practice to do business organization, bookkeeping and taxes

Law Firm needed to file Trade Mark registration

Bank for checks and credit card processing

Graphic Designer to develop logo and other graphic requirements

Photographer to create the videos and still photos for social media

Website Developer to create the website

Plug-In Software developers for order processing

Hosting Data Center for running website software

Computer Services support locally for business operations

Social Media Consultant for all social media activities

FaceBook advertising support staff

Clip & Elastic Component manufacturing

          Raw material suppliers

          Freight haulers to deliver to manufacturers

          Design engineers

          Plant engineers for production

          Machine operators

          Material movement workers

Shipment of Components for assembly

          FedEx employees

Contract Manufacturer for assembly

          Assemblers

          Packers

          Shipping clerk

          Delivery driver to distribution center

Distribution Center for order processing

          Shipping supplies from vendor

          Package insert printer

          Order processing worker

          Packaging employee

US Mail delivery to consumer

From this behind the scenes picture of a small online business, it is clear that many people are involved to bring a product to market from any small online business. Your support of small businesses will touch the lives of many people throughout the USA this season.

Many Not So Apparent Cases

Small businesses are sprouting up everywhere you look and in every industry. Most are niche players who are carving out a specialty in order to maximize the value they can deliver. Internet marketing has provided the window to the world to expose products and services to people who would have ordinarily not seen them. Many small businesses have only served their local regional area until the Internet was developed. Here are a few examples:

• Royal Pillow 
• Northeast Fleece Blankets
• Buis Mattress 
• Budsies Custom Stuffed Animals 
• Kids2teens Bedroom Furniture 
• The Company Store Home Décor 

Shopping online is now the choice of most young consumers and is growing every year. It is convenient, fast and easy. The graphics today make product evaluation very thorough and the shipping methods are dependable. Your choice to purchase from a small online business will send dollars into all the small businesses list above and contribute to the economy in the USA beyond your best imaginations.

How are you supporting small business? Share with us in the comments below!

Holiday Party Time

The issue that needs to be resolved is the return trip home after drinking alcohol at a party. A little preplaning is an easy task. There are options. If the party is nearby, walk to it. Then you can crawl home if necessary. Or, have a friend pick you up and drive together. When you want to go home, call an Uber driver or a taxi to come pick you up. It’s a cheap alternative to the DUI attorney fee with an insurance premium bump.

Across State/Country for a Visit

There are two things to always keep in mind.

First, always leave early to avoid frustration with traffic or crowds. The trip is to be enjoyable and relaxing so you want to avoid any unnecessary stress.

Second, do not get overly tired. Fatigue lessens our alertness and causes drowsiness which reduces our defensive driving skills.  Further, tiredness can adversely impact your immune system and lead to sickness. And, we all know, there is nothing worse than being sick away from home.

Holiday Travel Trip Packing

When the family members pack for the trip, keep in mind there are limitations at your destination:

• Limited space for travel bag storage
• Limited surface space to put things out
• Limited hangers for good clothes and coats
• Limited space for shoes and boots during bad weather

To save space when packing it often works well to roll clothing rather than to fold it. This reduces the wrinkles even when packed in tight, unlike folded items.

Take along a couple of plastic garbage or shopping bags to put dirty clothes in. This will keep your other clothing smelling fresh when they are all in a travel bag together.

It is also prudent to take a night light or two for the unfamiliar sleeping quarters. And, don’t forget a can of bathroom spray deodorant. These can just make the trip a bid more pleasant.

Other Important Items

Always wear shoes, not sandals or flip flops when traveling. This will keep everyone’s feet cleaner, safer and make any required walking more tolerable. It prepares everyone for that unexpected emergency where you may need to run for shelter or walk a great distance for rescue.

Include earplugs for everyone. These are handy to have when trying to sleep in an unfamiliar place. The sounds are always unique and may include unexpected, early morning garbage truck pick up noises outside.

Many times the air conditioning is difficult to get adjusted just right, or it is blowing directly on the nearest bed. Don’t forget to take a set of Tuckright Blanket Suspenders® for each of the children. They are easy to attach and remove from beds as you travel. This way the kids will remain covered all night and you will also get a good night’s rest.

Take a pillow and a blanket for each child. Whether in the car or plane, it is always wise to have an extra cover-up, especially when sleeping. If flying, it is also a good idea to have a sweater or light jacket when the cabin temperature is too low. The best idea is for everyone to dress in layers. This will accommodate most all circumstances.

All Important List

When planning for a trip have each family member compile a list of what they intend to take. Review this and weed out the unnecessary items. They should each take the list along and when leaving use it as a checklist that they are returning with everything they brought.

Having Done All, Relax & Enjoy

Check out this article for some additional ideas for making your holiday travels more enjoyable: How To Make Holiday Travel Less Stressful. 

How do you practice good health during the holidays? Share with us in the comments below!

Rid yourself of Guilt

Busy moms wrestle with the guilt of not being the perfect mom with their kids all the time. They compare themselves with the imaginary ideal mom and fall short. This causes frustration and an endless cycle. Whether you work away from home or not, the feeling still arises for various reasons.

Here is the solution…”Get over it!” To begin with, kids are adaptable to changing environments and resilient to family disruption. Some of the best, highest achieving adults came out of the worst dysfunctional homes. The kids are not the issue. Your guilt possibly stems from your own self focus. You’d like to be enjoying them more because their youthful years will slip away fast. Like they say, take your situation of lemons and make lemonade of it.

Start now and make what time you have into quality time, which is simply having one on one with each child for any period of time, but do it regularly. You can also plan ahead with the kids events they want to do. And last, let the kids see you when you are less than your best. They learn from this that you are human and they too may someday have difficult situations with the stress of life.

Find more Time

They say a woman’s work is never done. The joke is, those are the things she gives her husband to do! The housework chores that keep a household running are a huge job. Let’s find a way to lighten that load if you are feeling overwhelmed now toward the end of the year. Sit down with the family and make a list of responsibilities for each person and the date when those things will be accomplished.

Post this on the refrigerator door and hold everyone accountable. This should include, for example, helping in the kitchen, cleaning, lunch making, picking up stuff around the house and bed making. This task can be eased by using Tuckright Blanket Suspenders® on each child’s bed which makes the bed easier to make after keeping them covered all night. Less work for Mom, using Tuckright®; “Keeps my kids covered all night!”

Problem Resolution

Many people feel that talking about issues and problems will somehow get them resolved. It doesn’t, and the bigger issue is that the problem is then carried around as a mental burden. Let’s stop talking with our spouse, neighbors and friends about our concerns and move on. To move on you either put it out of your mind or address it immediately and get it settled. There is no place in your life for tolerating negative thoughts that serve to disrupt your peaceable life.

Date Night with Spouse

Let’s make time together. Set aside one night per week for the remaining weeks in the year. Perhaps Thursday night would be good and go out with your lover. Do this to make it easy and cheap. Hire a sitter for a couple of hours at dinner time. Have them feed the kids.

You two go out to a local establishment that has a two for one drink offering with heavy hors d’oeuvres. Many local hotels will have these offerings. Call it dinner. It is a great escape to be together and just talk. So, the one drink and only two hours of sitter cost makes for a cheap date. The saying goes…”tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life.” Now get going and make this new found life style your own. Enjoy it to the max. Cheers!

Ultimate Mom-Kid Bonding Bucket List

Now you will more time for the children. Parent Magazine published a great list you should also read. The article itemizes a dozen creative ideas for activities to do together. Check it out, here!

What’s on your 2017 bucket list? Share with us in the comments below!

Give Love.

The greatest gift you can give to anyone is to simply love them where they are in life. A lot is asked of moms this time of year and maintaining an attitude of love about every request or demand on your time will keep it all in proper perspective.

Play Music.

Turn on the radio or cell phone or even the TV channel that has continuous music. Play soft music some days and seasonal music other days. Having this in the background will help all family members be more relaxed and remain positive about their daily activities.

Avoid Toxic People.

Whether it is a family gathering that includes the aunt you can’t stand, or a local party with an acquaintance that bugs you, there will be people around who are an annoyance. Simply avoid these people with a polite hello and keep moving on to talk with others. Don’t allow yourself to be subjected to a negative encounter.

Have Family Time with Laughter.

Allocate time amidst the hectic holidays and just be with the family. Do something that everyone will enjoy and be able to communicate among one another. You can play cards, or an old fashion board game, or watch a comedy movie etc. The key is to be together and to get the good endorphins active through laughter.

Eat Balanced with Portion Control.

The holiday parties serve all the fattening but best tasting food of the year. So, go ahead and enjoy it. The key is to enjoy the taste without eating too much. Limit the amount you consume and you’ll be ok. Then at meal time, eat the balanced diet items of vegetables and protein.

Exercise and Get Outside.

Go for a walk outside to get some fresh air. Walk with a family member or a friend. You’ll be building your relationship, getting needed exercise and breathing fresh air. This is a win win for your physical and mental health.

Rest.

You’ll be burning a lot of extra calories with the food you’re eating and the pace you’re keeping during the holiday season. Therefore, proper rest is imperative for restoring your body in order to maintain good health. And to assist you, utilize Tuckright Blanket Suspenders® on your children’s beds. These Blanket Suspenders® keep the bedcovers on all night so you do not need to check on recovering the kids and they have the bed looking good in the morning, almost already made.  www.tuckright.com are mom’s delight, “keeping my kids covered all night.”

Reach out to Someone Alone.

Now contact someone you may know is alone during the holiday. Give them a call or better yet, go visit them. This will assure them they are loved and cared about.

Remember to do everything in moderation. If each family member can maintain a balance in all they do, the holidays will be a time to remember with great joy.

Happy Holiday Health.

For 12 more ways to have a healthy holiday season, click here! 

How do you have a healthy holiday season? Share with us in the comments below!

Get organized to be a winner and overcome these hurdles.

Establish a master calendar for the entire family through the end of the year. Find out when everything will be happening. Discuss with the family what are priorities and make decisions early regarding which activities each person will participate in.

Teach the family how to say No.

Just say no to the lower priority opportunities. This will protect your family from false anticipation. You sometimes just can’t do everything. This will resolve conflicts early and set expectations with each individual member of the family. That includes determining driving requirements for the kids.

Now, you can get the sitters lined up early, and get that off your mind too.

Block out time.

Allocate time on your master calendar to enjoy the family. Set aside time to do some fun family activities that will contribute to making memories. Baking cookies, decorating the tree, setting up decorations and other tasks are simple things everyone can enjoy. Then comfort the children at bedtime with a Christmas story. When you plan ahead using Tuckright Blanket Suspenders® on the children’s beds, these will reduce your work by keeping them covered all night and the bed easy for them to make in the morning. Moms delight using Tuckright®; “keep my kids covered all night!”

Also, take the time to keep the season holy with your faith. Carry on traditions and meaningful customs so they are enjoyed and passed on to the next generation.

Allocate time and money for yourself.

There are always tremendous deals during the holidays. So plan some shopping trips or on-line surfing to take advantage of the opportunities. Begin soliciting gift ideas from not just your children, but everyone on your list. If it is a neighbor, friend, fellow worker or relative, ask the people closest to them for gift ideas. This is always a good policy for knowing their interests that will help fill the void of ideas for you.

Easier entertaining during holiday season

Try entertaining family and friends with an old fashion pot luck dinner? During this season of giving, it allows everyone to participate and be recognized for their contribution. Furthermore, a festive buffet dinner is easier on you and allows everyone to mingle more creating that memorable time. Look out, it may be requested for a repeat next year!

And, when you have to travel during the holidays, leave early. Give your destination people a heads up regarding when you expect to arrive, and inform them of any delays along the way so you can enjoy the trip.

Taking the stress and anxiety out of the holidays is a challenge but can be accomplished. It is something we must all work on so our presence is a joy to everyone around us.

Additional holiday season tips.

Here are some additional ideas for holiday preparations categorized as: Conserve while Cooking, Decorating Tips, Traveling and Receiving Guests, Winterizing Your Home and Gift Giving. 

How do you prepare for the holidays? Share with us in the comments below!

Take a family hike in local state park.

It is great to get outside and enjoy nature. Hiking and sightseeing is an easy way to get the kids away from their friends for some one on one quality time. It is always surprising what the children like to talk about when they are away from the normal environment in a new situation. They can even use their cell phone compass feature so they don’t miss their devices.

Invite other families having children similar ages as yours to carve pumpkins.

Load up on some various sized pumpkins, buy a few inexpensive candles and waa-laa, you’ve got an inexpensive party theme. Invite a couple of families over, you’d like to get to know better, and you’ve a casual environment for some new friend building. Have your event on a weekend afternoon for a couple of hours and serve ice cream after the carving is completed. PS, give me a call. Sounds like fun. I’d like to come too!

Take a drive to a local area of your state you do not frequent.

Drive out to look at things unfamiliar to you in areas that may be different from where you live. The purpose is to relax. It is relaxing to your eyes to look distances when all week everyone has spent a lot of time viewing electronic screens. It is relaxing to your body to see new shapes and colors, to hear different sounds and perhaps smell new odors. Exposing yourself to change and things that are not customary is a healthy activity.

Take your family to a fried chicken restaurant.

Have an old fashion chicken dinner on a Sunday evening. Following dinner, have exclusive family time for the remainder of the evening. Then, have the kids hit the hay early for a peaceful wind down before going to bed. To make their night even more restful, use Tuckright Blanket Suspenders®  on their beds to assure they will stay covered all night. Less work for Mom, using Tuckright Blanket Suspenders®  “Keeps my kids covered all night and the bed easier for them to make in the morning.”

Take some crazy photos of each family member.

Have the pictures printed and post them somewhere that is visible like the refrigerator door. The kids like to see happy photos of their own family, especially Mom and Dad goofing off. You’ll be surprised at the reaction from the children when they see Mom and Dad out of normal character displaying a totally different personality than they are accustom to seeing.

Fifty more Fun Fall Family Activities.

Here’s a great list categorized by Outdoors, Nostalgic, Eat & Drink, Holiday and Just Because. These are all a bit more traditional and will vary based on your area of the country.

What’s your favorite fall family activity? Share with us in the comments below!

Can Color Help Children Sleep?

The same concept applies to children’s bedrooms. Certain colors will be stimulating and others calming. Turns out the color blue is one of the most relaxing colors to use in a child’s bedroom. The reason is the ganglion cell receptors in the retina of the eye relay information to the brain that controls the 24 hour circadian rhythm, which impacts how we feel physically and many other aspects of life.

Blue, the color of the sky and ocean, is associated with openness, peace, tranquility and calmness helping to reduce heart rate and in turn lower blood pressure. This results in a better night’s sleep for your children. The net result is the color of their bedroom can affect children’s sleep patterns as well as their consequent mood.

There are other colors that will have the same effect if blue is not you color of choice. Colors like grays, coral, beige, silver and neutrals also create a calming environment. Further, warm colors may be incorporated like a pale yellow that produces a cozy feeling and is very inviting to the room.  Shades of green, earth tones or soft, muted colors may also provide the same results. It is also best to use a flat paint rather than an eggshell since the egg shell reflects more light making it brighter.

Now here is another thought. Consider painting the ceiling a darker color rather than white. Use perhaps a light gray or a complementary color to the wall color. This will also be of help in getting your children to sleep with daylight savings time and also if they desire to nap in the afternoon.

By all means, do not make the mistake of painting the children’s bedrooms bright colors. While this looks nice and is visually invigorating, it will tend to hype up the child and stimulate their energy at a time when you want them to be relaxed and calmed to prepare for resting.

Combine Bedroom Accent Colors for Influence

Here is a very good list of colors assembled by Ethan Green, author of No Sleepless Nights, of the impact of colors on human behavior:

• Red: Aggressive. Dangerous. Typically stands out from all other colors.
• Blue: Trusting. Peaceful. It is a relaxing, peaceful color, but it is also associated with coldness.
• Yellow: Friendly. Contented. This is a mellow and generally positive color, but it can also be polarizing.
• Green: Calming. Opulent. It is the color of nature and of money.
• Purple: Luxurious. Darker shades can be elegant, lighter shades can conjure up images of nature, of spring and summer flowers.
• Orange: Energetic. Playful. A contrasting color, it can be seen as uplifting, but also cheap.
• Gray: Plain. Boring. A gloomy, depressing color devoid of life, but also formal and straight-edged.
• Pink: Youth. Young Love. This is an innocent and feminine color, but one that can also trigger images of sweet candies.
• Brown: Dirty. Strong. Brown conjures images of dirt and other unsavory things, but also of wood and leather.
• Black: Elegant. Unique. Black is different, it’s unusual, it’s dark and it can be enigmatic.
• White: Clean. Cold. A clinical color that may conjure images of hospitals, cleanliness and virtue.

What color have you chosen for your bedrooms? Share with us in the comments below!

Private, KEEP OUT!

Children love to play under a big blanket draped over a couple of chairs on a rainy day. Or, in a big box that is a make-believe fort or the proverbial playhouse in the back yard. These hideaways are simply personal space that is clearly their own for the moment. This sense of ownership is the environment needed to be created in their bedroom for their daily contentment and self-esteem. It builds confidence and reassurance of the importance of their place in the family and in life.

Once this atmosphere is established with your child, the same room should never be used as a place for punishment. A “time out” or punishment area should be an exclusive area designated as the place to go that is isolated from everyone else in the family. That could be the laundry room, the furnace room, the back hall or stairs. It should not be a place of comfort or necessarily enjoyable to be in for a length of time. Remember, the objective of the isolation punishment is for the child to reflect on what they have done.

Place of Personal Pride

• This bedroom oasis needs to be well organized and cleaned up on a daily basis.
• The organization can be accomplished with inexpensive wall shelves and a small table and chair.
• The use of large plastic bins can hold the personal treasures and under the bed is the place to store many items.
• Essentially, the old adage of a place of everything and everything in its place is the simple approach. If that is not achievable, then some of their “stuff” needs to be discarded!
• It is impossible for a child to clean up their room if they have an overabundance of toys. Too many stuffed animals or an excess of Legos without a proper storage space is a recipe for a constantly messy room.

Further, your child’s bedroom retreat should be decorated in soothing, calm colors. These will help them to be relaxed and quieted. Here you can accomplish that restful feeling you want your child to have each day. Choose wall colors, bed spreads and accessory colors that are muted. Use blues, greens and pastels that blend together forming that peaceful refuge you want to create.

Made Bed is the Genesis of a Clean Room

In the military, from the privates to the generals, a daily made bed is required for not only personal hygiene and cleanliness, but more importantly for establishing personal discipline. Same is true for children. A made bed is truly the genesis of a clean room. When children make their bed each morning they will view their room totally differently. The sense of pride of ownership of their bedroom space is reinforced when the bed is looking good all day.

Discover how your children can get a better night’s sleep using the new American made Tuckright Blanket Suspenders® . They Keep Kids Covered and the bed easier to make. Then Mom, you’ll sleep better too, knowing they’re covered all night, and their bed’s looking good all day.

Some have special rules, other choose to change up the rooms decor. How do you keep your children’s room a magic land? Share with us in the comments below!

Teaching sportsmanship is not an easy thing to do. But when there is a good example of what it is not correct, right in front of everyone, the opportunity must be seized. Kids need to be told that it is not proper to yell, bully, taunt, complain and loudly express negative comments regarding the officiating or coaching of either team. They need to realize these charges vented by an irate parent do nothing to change the outcome of the game.

Winning or losing isn’t the primary objective of youth athletics. Rather, it is about:

•         developing skills,
•         building strong bodies,
•         learning discipline,
•         fostering confidence,
•         comprehending teamwork,
•         understanding competitiveness,
•         learning to play by the rules and
•         to enjoy playing the game.

There is a statement written by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) that says, “When the One Great Scorekeeper comes, to write against your name, He marks not that you won or lost, but how you played the game.”

Sportsmanship is all about respect for everyone else who is involved with the game. When things are going well it is easy to be a good sport and only have praise for everyone. But when things are not going well, that is the time each participant and parent needs to handle themselves with dignity. Kids need to be taught that saying nothing when they are upset and disagree with what just happened in a game is a difficult but virtuous thing to do.

Encouragement and positive comments are always appropriate in any difficult situation. When the kids lose a game it is important to focus on what they did well and correctly. Building confidence comes from re-enforcing the activities that went well and not focusing on the questionable issues with other players, coaching or officiating. The outcome of a team’s game score is beyond an individual player and needs to be kept in perspective. Walking away from a game with a sense of personal pride that they gave their all and did their best is a player’s real objective.

This personal pride and self-esteem begins in the morning with a student athlete’s bedroom. Like the military, the personal discipline to make the bed and clean up the room before leaving sets the day off on the right foot. To assist your young competitor, you can utilize Tuckright Blanket Suspenders®  on their bed to keep the bedcovers on all night and have the bed looking good in the morning, almost already made.

A child who practices good sportsmanship is likely to carry the respect and appreciation of other people into every other aspect of life. Sportsmanship is as much an outcome of playing a sport as the other attributes mentioned above.

On or off the field, how do you teach good sportsmanship? Share with us in the comments below!