Getting Prepared

In addition to all the canning and storing away we have been doing, we have also (finally) thought about 72 hour kits. These have always bothered me, which is probably why I haven't ever put ours together. It's not that we didn't have things that would be helpful, but they were all just in one big box in the garage. Not exactly helpful in an emergency. And the only reason they bother me is because they seem like such a HUGE waste - of everything. But it's more about being prepared, and not anything else really. Still not a great attitude coming from me about these, but I am happy now that we have pushed through and done something.

We finally got our act together and saw that we had almost everything we needed to fill up 5 bags for these kits and put them in a more accessible location. I still have a small list of things to add, but we feel a little better about being prepared.

Putting these together was part of three-week FHE lessons/activities during which Ben and I basically took over and talked about disasters and what our plans are. We found some meeting spots outside our home; talked about where to be in the house during an earthquake; how to call 911 (and when); why we're putting these bags together; ran fire drills and pushed screens out of windows and had the boys climb out and pull Paige out; and checked all our fire alarms (and discovered that some in the basement have never been wired correctly and were only working off batteries - which then resulted in Ben taking all of those down and wiring them up and having the boys help him out). It's been a good few weeks and while we have more to do, and of course do this same kind of thing every year, it's good to have our kids know a little bit more.  

(It cracks me up how long nights can go when Ben finds a project - such as the fire alarms - that really does need attention right then. But there's no doubt that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that Ben can pretty much get anything to work or fix anything around the house. And the boys love helping him....which is probably why those nights go long to begin with. But it's worth it!)