Emergencies are never stress-free. I was reminded last week with the anniversary of 9/11, as well as the second US hurricane in less than 3 weeks now. Plus today, a tropical storm is affecting us here in NY. Moreover, this is especially true when you have little ones to take care of. While it’s important to keep young children calm, you’ll be dealing with a lot of other details as you care for your family, too.
Ideally, you can teach your children some coping strategies before emergencies ever arise. That way, they’ll be a little more prepared if you and your family ever do face a stressful situation.
What kind of emergencies should you prepared for? Well that depends on where you live, as well as what your lifestyle is like. These are a few scenarios to consider:
- Natural disasters like flooding, wildfire, or major storms.
- Evacuation.
- Economic collapse.
- Terrorism.
- Home invasion.
- Housefires.
It’s not fun to think about how your family would fare in any of these above scenarios. But doing so can help you be more prepared.
Here are 5 strategies for helping to prepare your family for emergency situations:
1. Practice expectations.
In emergencies, the last thing you are going to want to deal with is a small child that doesn’t obey you. Your children should be expected to obey your instructions immediately. When you hold this expectation in your regular day-to-day routine, you’ll have less to worry about when disaster strikes. Because the habit will already be ingrained.
2. Focus on self-soothing.
Habits such as focused breathing and visualization are powerful physiological techniques. The sooner kids learn them, the more prepared they will be throughout life to cope with stress.
3. Memorize personal information.
In the event that you get separated, it’s helpful if your child knows some basic personal information. Your phone number, full names of family members, and your home address are all pieces of information that they could give to an adult that would help you be reunited. On that note, discuss with your children how to discern whether an adult is trustworthy or not. There’s a lot to be said for trusting gut instincts. Also, police officers and parents with kids are more likely to be able to help.
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4. Practice emergency drills as a family.
Follow through the motions of what exactly your family would do during a fire, evacuation, major storm, or another scenario. By repeating these drills every few months, children will have a better idea of what to do. Plus, they will be able to know what to expect if ever faced with the real deal.
5. Set a good example.
As with any other area of life, children will follow your example. See this includes whether it’s good or bad. Do your best to set the tone for your family during emergencies by remaining calm, alert, and proactive.
If your family faces a disaster or emergency situation, you’re all going to be dealing with some stress. However, using these strategies can better prepare your young children to remain calm until life returns to normalcy.
Make emergency preparation part of your family culture and you’ll enjoy a greater sense of security and peace of mind!
NOW READ ON FOR SOMETHING AWESOME!!!
FREE Preparedness Printables Bundle
Several of us have put together an amazing bundle of printables for everyone to have for free upon signing up for our email lists!
Here’s what’s included:
Annette from Tips from a Typical Mom has a Family Evacuation Plan which includes things like Meeting locations, emergency contacts, shelters and evacuation routes, and other emergency numbers.
Katelyn from What’s up Fagans? has a Personal Document Protection printable, which is basically a simplified checklist to help you make sure your old photos, videos, audio files, journals, and other documents protected physically and digitally!
Carrie of A Mother’s Shadow has a great Dutch Oven Guide! In many emergencies, you may find yourself without power which can make cooking food difficult, unless you have something like a dutch oven which is easy to carry and to cook a wide variety of foods in.
Katie of Clarks Condensed has a very helpful 72 Hour Kit Checklist. Should you find yourself having to leave in a hurry, you and your family can simply grab your 72-Hour kits and head out the door, knowing that you’ll have the food, bedding, clothes, tools, medicine, toiletries, fuel, and personal documents you need.
Kristina from Mother’s Niche has an Emergency Car Kit printable so that you are never stranded helplessly on the side of the road, not knowing what to do, nor having the tools and supplies to help in this emergency.
Janine from This Mom’s Confessions has a handy printable about teaching your children about emergencies and what they need to know before an emergency situation happens.
Camille of My Mommy Style has a handy Family Fire Safety Log where you can track your family’s readiness in case of a fire in your house, as well as make sure you are checking your smoke and CO detectors.
Herchel of Gym. Craft. Laundry. has practical hurricane tips for when things you need are sold out! As a Florida native, her prep hacks are genius!
Sarah of Thank You Honey has an easy Hurricane Checklist printable to help you make sure you have everything in place before a hurricane heads your way.
Lara from Overstuffed has a Password Keeper to help you keep track of your online passwords as a means to help you avoid being a victim of identity theft.
Receive all of the above printables for FREE when you Sign Up Below. May you be prepared for whatever may come your way!
Be Prepared for Any & All Emergencies
FREE Bundle to Get You Started
ShootingStarsMag says
These are all great tips/strategies, especially in terms of discerning which adults to trust in an emergency. Love all the great printables too!
Janine says
Thanks and hope you signed up to get all the awesome printables here, too 🙂
Meredith Spidel says
Awesome bundle! We have been talking about safety more and more in our home as our kiddos get older and more independent, so this couldn’t be more timely. Thanks for sharing!
Janine says
So glad to share and happy you also downloaded our printables, too!! 🙂
Seana Turner says
When my children were little, we took a parenting class that suggested we teach our kids to fold their hands together to help calm themselves down. Sounds silly, but I think it helped!
Janine says
That is a great suggestion and definitely have to keep in mind, too now!
William Holland says
I ran the emergency preparedness team at school, so I can say without hesitation this is great information. Here on the west coast, we grew up with earthquakes, so duck and cover is something we learned from an early age.
Have a great Tuesday, Janine!
Janine says
I truly didn’t know this about you, Bill. Loved learning that you did this though, but even though I didn’t know it, it doesn’t surprise me one bit. Why? Because you my friend are always willing to help no matter the cause. Happy Tuesday right back at you now!! 🙂
Echo says
Being prepared is so much more important than we think! Thank you for all of these awesome resources!
Janine says
My pleasure and really just happy to help share some preparedness info here with you, too Echo!
Mary says
This is such an important post. I grew up in California, I was around for the big earthquake and this was before cell phones. My Mom, sister and I were at the mall and my Dad was at home alone. After that scary day, we all had a plan and we didn’t put that plan into action until 9/11. I was a freshman in college on 9/11 my sister was working about an hour away from our childhood home and my Dad had just moved to Maryland. Somehow some way we all got on a conference call and checked in. You have to talk to your kids about these emergencies, thank you for providing such great tips.
Janine says
Mary, 9/11 was really a huge day for having to be prepared, but still all the preparedness in the world never would have prepared me for the devastation from that day in all honesty. That said just glad that you all were able to touch base and also were all OK, too. Hugs and thank you for sharing with me here, too <3
Aunt Gloria says
Good advice. Better to be prepared just in case of an emergency. Let’s hope you/we will never have to put these into practice! Take care and let’s hope Hurricane Maria blows out to sea! xxoo
Janine says
Yes let’s hope for sure and got my fingers crossed. But just in case am prepared xoxo
Jen says
Nobody wants to think about this do we, but we have too! This is such a great resource. I just pinned it all!
Janine says
I couldn’t agree more with you, Jen and thank you so much for pinning all, too 🙂
Diane Roark says
Janine,
I LOVE your practical tips bundle. It would be so helpful. I had to get it.
The next time you have a group blogger giveaway I would love to donate to it.
Many blessings,
Diane Roark
Janine says
Diane, I will definitely keep you in mind and let the organizer of this know your interest. As was asked in a group I contribute in and afterwards actually found out Carrie was also a part of this. But most definitely will share your interest 🙂
AnnMarie John says
Those are truly great tips. A lot of people aren’t prepared for disasters and/or emergencies and sometimes even when you think you’re ready, you’re still not ready. However, when it comes to kids, the basics is something they really need to know and your list nails it.
Janine says
Thanks AnnMarie and truly agree about the basics with kids in scenarios such as these!
Tamara says
All of the hurricane talk definitely started conversations in our house. Scarlet has no memory of this, but in her short life, she’s been in a tornado, a hurricane, and an earthquake! All of those times, we acted calm.
When I was pregnant with Des we had that freak blizzard and it was awful but obviously he doesn’t remember that one from six weeks gestation!
Janine says
Oh man, I don’t think he would, but still sure that is something you will never quite forget!!
Christine Carter says
This is SO important and I love your tips, Janine! I pinned it for other parents to check out. LOVE the printables for us to use as well.I am thinking I need to do this with my own family STAT.
Janine says
Thank you for pinning and hope you can do similar with your family, too now Chris <3