Keeping Your Kids Happy in a Natural Disaster

My dear sister has graciously agreed to contribute based on her recent experience during Hurricane Ike. They did not evacuate and I asked her to share her experience with us so that we can be better prepared for the effects of this kind of disaster on our children. Thanks Erin!

Our family just came through Hurricane Ike. We live just outside of Houston and while our home did not have any real damage, we were without power for 13 days. Yes -13 days folks! And while FEMA tells you that you should be prepared for 72 hours that does not mean that ice, water and food will all be READILY available in 72 hours, just that they will start to get things out in that amount of time. It also doesn’t mean that in 72 hours the crisis is over and the rebuilding has started. Thirteen Days without power is a lot to deal with, physically, emotionally and mentally. It’s a lot for children to handle. Particularly when they have to back to school, you have to go back to work and life is resuming around you. Mimi has asked me to write about keeping your children occupied during a time of disaster. I hope I am able to give you some bits and pieces you can use and that will be helpful to your family.

The day before and the morning of the storm the whole city was in upheaval, all of Houston basically shut down. The lines for gas were hours long, Wal-Mart looked like a war zone and people all over were panicking. My first bit of advice for your kids is that you focus on what needs to be done and NOT leave the news on all day so they can hear that doom, gloom and devastation are on their way. My younger daughter who has been potty trained for months had 2 accidents on Friday before the storm. She was very clingy and whiny. It serves no purpose for them to be scared more than necessary. My suggestion would be to have a TV or radio on somewhere away from the children so that you can have up to date info without having them have to worry.

During the storm my older daughter slept the whole time so we didn’t have to comfort her or keep her busy at all. The 3 yr old was agitated and awake a lot of the time. We kept her occupied by letting her hang with Dad and make sure everything was ok, she had her own flashlight and stayed right with him. Giving her a job seemed to really keep her mind off of things, and hanging out with Dad helped her to feel safe.

For the first week we were blessed with Beautiful weather. I didn’t have too worry much because we were outside the majority of the day and then fell into our beds at night.
We slept in the tent most of the nights and that made for a little bit of an adventure. The girls love camping so to them it was big fun. It was VERY dark in our neighborhood and we were able to see more stars than normal. We also played flashlight tag and hide and go seek.

Putting the girls to work was a great way to pass the time. They helped to clean the debris up, take drinks to their Dad and uncles and set up the tent. Being outside was the biggest blessing! The kids got to have unstructured play outside and as a sometimes over cautious Mom I had to let go a little. Knowing and trusting our neighbors made a huge difference because we were able to take turns with the kids to give each other a little bit of a break.

The second week when we had to go back to school and work it was a little--no--a lot more trying. We had to find ways to go about our normal life without power. Getting up in the morning was tough because the girls had no real schedule. They were pretty tired of cereal bars but ate them anyway while I brushed hair and found socks in the dark. In the afternoons we did homework right after school so we didn’t loose daylight and then had easy dinners. We read a lot of books by flashlight and played a few board games. We colored and wrote in our journals and we even reorganized a couple of closets.

But the most influential thing during week two was Mommy. “When Mama ain’t happy- Ain’t nobody happy!” I really think through everything that there was no magic that kept the girls happy and entertained. It was just me- as long as I was happy, calm and in control so was our home and our children. My husband, Mike, was a great leader and took care of us physically, without him we wouldn’t have made it. However, if I had been a little more graceful we would have made it through with more smiles and a lot less tears.

So there it is, that’s my advice. The Mama is the most influential person in your home and if you are ok- they will be ok. It is hard to go through a disaster as a family- but it will make you stronger and it will expose the areas you need to work on. Your children do not need to be entertained every single second. Give them a little room to spread their wings. Don’t assume they are too little to help, give every person a part in making it work. Believe me, you’ll need all the help you can get. Be as prepared as you can and don’t be afraid to take advantage of help when it is offered. Offer help to others if you can and try as hard as you can to smile the whole time. Eventually you’ll really feel like smiling!

Soooo school.

Well, I am once again deeply in the midst of school avalanche. I apologize to any readers out there who might have been looking forward to my actually posting on this blog. However, at the current moment I am thinking I will probably not be doing much blogging over here. Like for a year. I am going to leave it up though because I think I have a great start and hopefully, someday, after graduation, I can add to it. Thanks for supporting me those of you out there who have stopped by.

Banarang Bread

One of my most favorite things in the whole world is the smell of freshly baked bread. It is super healing. Sometimes its intimidating whether your mom made it the best but didn't teach you and so you are worried you can't reproduce her perfect loaf, or you have never had homemade bread and don't even buy yeast. To me, baking bread is one of those hallmark skills that every industrious woman should have, you know, like crossing the plains, making all of your own clothes and churning butter. I have learned over the years that the woman I am does not have to be that particular woman but my love of homemade bread has not waned. I will not offer my perfect recipe here. I will share with you some tutorials from other sites and some tips that were like moments of inspiration. But the real secret to making your own bread is practice, and failure, and practicing again. So, if you really want to make your own bread start with trying a couple of loaves every week for a month. By the end, of the month you will have perfected your family favorite and will be a pro.

This recipe, Susan's White Bread, has good photographs and some explanation of the process of bread baking. It is part of a site called: A Year In Bread and the whole site has wonderful recipes and information.



This little grandma is so cute and a little weird (my favorite combination)! This is a great video on how to work a really simple bread. She talks about the pleasure of kneading the bread and making something new. She's right, its very rewarding.




This is part 2:



Now, to my limited wisdom. One of the biggest mistakes I made the first few times I made bread was that I kept adding flour, buckets and buckets of flour. Your dough will become brickish if you add too much. So, after practicing a bit I realized I just very lightly dust my hands and my work surface so that I can keep kneading. Notice in the videos that the woman just kept working the dough. It takes 10 or 15 minutes by hand or by mixer. Another thing the woman in the video does is a triple rise. I might try this the next time. I only let rise in the bowl once before I shape it but I have read that the longer the rise time the more fluffy and light your bread will be. I think the triple rise would be helpful too those first few times to give the ingredients more time to work their magic. I add powdered milk to my bread and I will usually add gluten or a dough enhancer. These products can be found in the baking section of most grocery stores and they are particularly helpful when you are a beginner. I also like the texture of the bread with enhancers. Once you get a basic understanding of what good dough feels and smells like then you can add a whole host of items to your repertoire. I can make rolls, cinnamon rolls, pizza, crackers, breadsticks, and many other items now that I understand the process. I will these items to the bread basics section as we go.
This whole wheat recipe looks fantastic. I am going to try it this week and will let you all know how it turns out. I prefer whole wheat and rarely make a straight white bread.

Simple Whole Wheat Bread

Introduction to the Basics

I wanted to start this series by explaining what (in the humble opinion of me) the basics are. Sometimes a project or goal seems incredibly overwhelming. Food storage, provident living and emergency preparation are often things that fall into overwhelming territory. One reason to stick to the basics is the power of focus. Dave Ramsey calls it gazelle intense. Steven Covey calls it a flight plan. Who ever you would like to emulate in the world more than likely has incredible focus. So, if you want your food storage program to be successful, FOCUS. There are some guidelines to how to narrow this down. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints lists these items as important for focus:


1.Three-Month Supply
2.Drinking Water
3.Financial Reserve
4.Longer-Term Supply

I agree with this order and would include a 72 hour kit as part of step one. Short term needs should be the primary focus for a first timer. As you increase these short term goals the others will follow naturally. For example, once you have a three month supply and are living on it and rotating it, your grocery budget should be very stable and predictable. This step can lead to an increase in money to add to your financial reserve.

Another important component of provident living is that it is...living. It isn't a one time event. It is an everyday part of life. However, that seems like an enormous challenge when beginning. Breaking even the first steps into smaller parts is a way to give the process time to "take." If you want to be prepared in an emergency then you should have regular meetings with your family to practice and prepare. This makes the plan become real. Slow repetition over time creates habits. So, for instance, when you are working on your three month supply it should be slowly. Incorporating storage items into your weekly menu plan is a way to not only rotate your food but make it a part of life. Also, keep it simple. We think we have to eat all complicated, but we don't. Simplifying your meals can be very rewarding, healthy and cost effective.

Here are some more places of inspiration:
Lentils and Rice
3 steps to starting a home storage program
Food Storage Made Easy

Back to Basics

I have been recently inspired by a friend who asked me to teach her to make bread. I don't know if I taught her anything but I enjoyed her company and got a kickin' batch of bread out of it. So I'm going to start this new series with a some tips on making bread and some resources with awesome tutorials. I hope to expand the database of resources so that there will be many basic resources available. Look forward to coming articles.

I'm back!

Well, I'm hoping I'm back. I am trying very hard to get excited about food storage. My own personal stash is way lower than normal and I am feeling a crunch to get it back up to par. Sometimes the hardest thing about provident living is motivation. So, I'm searching for it. If you guys out there would like to learn more about something specific please ask! I need to do some research or ponder on something. If you have a question or just a topic you would like addressed, let me know. I will address them in subsequent posts. So, to get us all back in the swing of things, here are some sources of inspiration.

http://www.providentliving.org/channel/1,11677,1706-1,00.html
http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/04/food-storage-101-part-i/
http://lds.about.com/od/preparednessfoodstorage/p/foodstorage.htm
http://blog.totallyready.com/

Snacks

I sometimes have a hard time looking at my food storage and seeing snacks. Common visions are of days making bread and eating rice and oats but there are a lot of good healthy choices out there for snacks. Popcorn is one of my all time favorites. It is an excellent, fast, and fun snack. It also doesn't heat up your kitchen the way baked goods do in the summer. I don't have an air popper so I just pop 1/2 cup of corn in 2 tbsp. oil in my biggest saucepan.

Here is a video of how to do it if you are trying for the first time.

http://video.about.com/homecooking/Homemade-Butter-Popped-Popcorn.htm

There are a ton of variations for things to add. I'm just going to list a few.

Our #1 favorite: plain ole' butter and salt

This one has nutritional yeast (very good for you)

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Emilys-Famous-Popcorn/Detail.aspx

Vanilla Popcorn

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Vanilla-Popcorn/Detail.aspx

A list of recipes for cracker jacks

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,homemade_popcorn,FF.html

I like these ideas

http://deniseskitchen.wordpress.com/2008/01/27/homemade-kettlecorn-and-popcorn/

At the bottom under the comments someone suggested adding honey. I think I will try that version next time.