Emergency Preparedness

It has been a couple of years since I have updated our 72 hour kit.  I knew food was expired and clothes would no longer fit the girls (I actually had nursing undergarments for myself in there--oops!).  We've reached a season where the girls are now old enough to carry their own backpacks, and I took advantage of the nice packs at Costco when school supplies were plentiful so we could convert from our uber large duffle to single packs.  Getting the project going, however, was another story.  It took some discipline, but I finally sat down for a couple of hours on Sunday night and typed out our family emergency plan, pulled important documents to keep in one place, and prepped a shopping list.  This morning, I did the food shopping and had everything laid out for our Family Night.

We changed all the batteries in the smoke detectors and flashlights, showed the girls how to turn off the electricity and gas should they ever be home alone during a quake, showed them how to detach the window screens in their rooms if they ever need to escape during fire, and also how to crawl 18" or lower on the floor in case of fire.  We also reviewed our meeting places in the front and back yard, and talked about how things would go if a quake happened while they were at school, who would pick them up, who was on their emergency cards, etc.  Of course the discussion got to them after awhile, and we talked about why we were preparing and how it helps us live with less fear instead of more when we're prepared.  It was a very productive evening, and we finished it off with a new recipe we tried from the LDS Living FHE lessons, Mint Chocolate Cookies.  Yum!

I listened to the debates while cleaning up the clutter from our project (I'm a little done with political posturing at the moment, quite depressing).  While I was taking something to Heather's room, I found the girls both in Heather's bunk playing a DSi game together.  They are enjoying each other's company more and more, and I've noticed that after a family collaboration, it's more likely to happen.  There's a testimonial for family projects and working together.