An ode to my Mom, the ultimate educated consumer

It's no secret I'm a big fan of my Momma, Missy Flanagan. I'm blessed (or cursed? JK!) with only the best memories of her growing up. I think I may have one single memory of her yelling at me. And it was because I told Ben he was adopted..So, the yelling was probably warranted. haha!

I do my mom an extreme disservice when I answer that my interested in politics come from my Daddy. The true answer, is that my interest on a very deep level, comes from my Mom. As a stay at home Mom, you don't have time to run a phone bank out of your house to remind people to get out to vote. You can't take two toddlers around dinner time every night to knock on doors and promote your agenda or candidate. It's just not going to happen. My mom knew this, so she promoted her own conservative beliefs in her own, genius way. She became an educated consumer. She was an educated consumer before it was cool. Of course she was also making her own bread, grinding her own wheat, buying local and organic, and just all around super crunchy before that was cool also. Love that lady!

I can remember there was a running list on our fridge growing up of companies who were pro-choice who would not get her business. Companies who gave to political candidates she would not vote for. Heck,she even boycotted Disney for years due to some decisions the company made that she didn't agree with. My mom was a genius in her own way, because she knew, that she made all the basic, day to day buying decisions for our family, and she intended to make them count! My Momma fully intended to put her money where her mouth was, on a very organic level. She wanted these companies to know that she did not agree with their corporate activism, and until things changed, they would not be getting the Flanagan households grocery money. I'm sure this seems very small to you-one housewife doing her due diligence and hell-bent on making a difference. Just one. But can you imagine if hundreds of thousands of us girls did this? I'm singling out stay at home moms in this, because that's what I am, but you don't have to even be a Mom or wife at all to be an educated consumer! We research who we want to vote for in the presidential elections, why don't we do the same thing with the corporations who receive our money on a day to day level? Gas stations. Grocery Stores. Clothing companies. Think of the huge difference we could make in this country if we just educated ourselves on who is REALLY getting our money??

Lucky for you, and me, there's an app for that! It's called 2nd Vote.
Check out http://www.2ndvote.com/ Or go to this link to download it https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/2nd-vote/id593149524?mt=8.

2nd Vote is an incredible tool that rates companies based on their conservative values. The App categorizes their "scorecard" either by industries OR issues. It then allows you to vote and promise your support of these companies that share your values.

Got Christmas presents to buy? Want to support companies that actually recognize Christmas? 2nd Vote's got ya covered! Here is a list of companies compiled by 2nd Vote who recognize Christmas, and those who don't. https://www.2ndvote.com/christmas
I know what you're going to ask! Does Missy use this App? She sure does!! At first she didn't know what an App was, but she's pretty savvy these days when it comes to her iphone! Sometimes we even facetime. She's so hip!

Thanks for listening to me ramble folks! Check out this super fun app! Download it, and start making a difference.
And if you think about it, go wish Missy a Merry Christmas :) The educated consumer, before it was cool!