Mom offers a tour of her 'average middle-class house' and it's just what people needed to see

“Let’s normalize ‘average’ because there is nothing wrong with it." 1 [Mom offers a tour of her 'average middle-class house' and it's just what people needed to see]( Sure, it’s lovely to see pristine, perfectly curated homes that look like they belong in [Architectural Digest](. A little inspo never hurt anyone. But as we all know, the spotless life is simply not an achievable reality, especially for those with busy lives and limited budgets (read: most of us). But you know what? Maybe even the [messy homes]( deserve some love. The ones with constant junk piles and unfinished projects and dirty dishes and misplaced [toys](. The homes that will never grace the cover of a magazine but still do a wonderful job of containing all the moments life has to offer—the big, small, extraordinary, mundane and everywhere in between. Cause at the end of the day, isn’t that a home’s true purpose anyway? [Stephanie Murphy]( a mom and TikTok creator, seems to think so. Murphy recently took viewers on an “average house tour,” and it was the exact opposite of aspirational. [Read the story]( 2 [Why the US presidential order of succession is the way it is]( Unless you've taken AP Government and Politics or AP Comparative Government—or unless you've binged-watched "Designated Survivor"—you may not know the full order of succession if a [U.S. president]( dies in office. You may not care, either, but we live in an unpredictable world and the question of who runs the United States in the event of an unprecedented tragedy is a legitimate one. We all know that the [vice president]( takes over if the president kicks it, but after that, the order seems somewhat arbitrary. The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives followed by the president pro tempore of the Senate and then all the Cabinet secretaries? And who decided what order the secretaries would go in? [Read the story]( Did a friend forward this to you? [Subscribe here]( 3 [1 in 8 kids in the U.S. experiences food insecurity. One simple grocery choice can help.]( When you’re a kid, summer means enjoying the fun of the season—plentiful sunshine, free time with friends, splashing in pools and sprinklers. But not every child’s summer is as carefree as it should be. For some, summer means going hungry. [According to Feeding America]( food insecurity affects 1 in 8 children in the U.S., largely because families lose the free or reduced-price meals at school that help keep them fed during the school year. But back-to-school time doesn’t make food insecurity disappear, either. Hunger is a year-round issue, and with the increased cost of groceries, it’s gotten harder for families who were already struggling to put food on the table. So what can be done—or more specifically, what can the average person do—to help? [Read the story]( 4 [Mom shares why she let her 17-year-old get top surgery. His face says it all.]( Top [surgery]( otherwise known as chest feminization or chest masculinization, is a gender-affirming procedure that changes the looks of a trans person’s chest. For [female-to-male top surgery]( breast tissue is removed to give a more masculine appearance for [transgender]( males and non-binary people who are assigned female at birth. This procedure, along with all forms of gender-affirming care, is surrounded by stigma and misinformation, especially when it comes to [minors](. Many parents fear that a teen could make a severe, irreversible decision regarding their gender presentation, given that adolescence is a time when the whole subject of identity is in flux. It’s partially fears like this that have resulted in gender-affirming care receiving a wave of backlash in America, even being [labeled as a form of child abuse](. However, a mom by the name of Janna, who recently helped her 17-year-old son receive top surgery, sees it as a form of love. [Read the story]( 5 [Zebby the support cat named national cat of the year for helping owner with hearing impairment]( One feline from the UK is here to give guide dogs good competition by being one of the most supportive cats. Cats are known to make you feel better by simply sitting on your chest and purring out loud while it chooses to offer you the pleasure of laying your hands on it. However, Zebby, a two-year-old black and white cat, does a lot more than that for his owner with a hearing impairment. He helps his owner, who is deaf, by alerting her to noises. Zebby taps his human to alert her if the phone or doorbell rings. This admirable behavior has now earned him the title of National Cat of the Year from Cats Protection. [Read the story]( Find us on the World Wide Web: [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( [Website]( [LinkedIn]( Copyright © 2023 GOOD | Upworthy, All rights reserved. 1370 N St Andrews Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90028 You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](.