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disaster preparation?!?Submitted by mommymash on Mon, 05/12/2008 - 5:57pm.
it seems like everywhere i turn lately, someone is warning me to be prepared for some unspecified disaster! it's freaking me out. there's billboards at the mall "urging families to make and practice an emergency plan"; there are commercials on the radio telling me what i'm supposed to keep in my emergency evacuation kit. and when i was at the department of health and human services (aka, the inner sanctum of f*cking hell) the other day they gave me a pamphlet about how i can stockpile supplies for monkeygirl and myself in case of a disaster. it says i'm supposed to have at least a 3 day supply of food and water for each of us, preferably a week's supply each. i can barely manage to keep my fridge stocked with food for dinner, and now i'm supposed to have a week's supply of food in the basement? i'm also supposed to have a 'ready bag' with clothes, cash, a battery-operated radio, and anything else we'll need to live if we have to leave home quickly. obviously these all very good suggestions (better safe than sorry) but does anyone ever feel like we're supposed to just be holding our breath for the next big disaster?? is the government TRYING to give me a panic attack? i've been having dreams lately about running from huge tidal waves with monkeygirl, and i really think it's because all this 'emergency' prep advice everywhere is driving me nutty! are any mamas out there putting emergency supplies together, or what? does anyone get as overwhelmed by this as i do, or do i just need more lavender oil in my bubblebath?? Those "be ready for armageddon!!! ZOMFG!!! Why don't you have a bomb shelter?!?!" things have always been around. I think sometimes we just notice them more. Remember the mustard gas thing in 03? They were telling everyone to go buy duct tape and neoprene? I remember my parents trying (in vain) to find a gas mask to fit my then-two-year-old... I say... Meh. If you have the shelf space go ahead and snag a few gallons of water, a couple weeks worth of canned food. I do, just cause you never know and it's not like it's going to go bad anytime soon. thank freaking god i don't have to find a gas mask to fit monkeygirl! that is hilarious, dahlia, and also so sweet that your parents are so devoted to your baby I'd drink the stuff if I could and I thought it'd keep me calmer. i'm laughing right now... water is supposed to represent femininity and womanhood in dreams, right? so are the tidal wave nightmares really about being chased by giant vaginas!? probably not, but i wonder what freud would say! I try to balance common sense and paranoia. My big fear is not knowing how to survive without all of the modern conveniences of life. So I learn a few things here and there to keep the fear at bay. I have to tell myself OFTEN "if something happens, we will have to deal with it as it comes". There isn't much we can do otherwise. I would say numero uno priority for survival is just buying some big bottles of water and stashing them. You can also buy some packaged food that is high protein and set is aside (and rotate it into your diet and replace before it gets too old).
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and every one else on the continent is dead, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to stay alive by myself in my bomb shelter with my canned beans and bottled water.
Nah, we're not "disaster-ready" either. I mean we're always stocked with food and medical supplies, etc. but I don't have one of those backpacks with flashlights and anti-bacterial wipes or whatever they tell you to put in there.