So, yes, teach them young!

Some great comments and examples. Joseph from the Bible is a great preparedness story (as well as the Ant and the Grasshopper). The Bible story in particular is great since it shows the importance of preparing so as to help others as well. I need to remember those when my kids are old enough to share.

It’s great when food storage and other ‘preparedness’ tasks becomes such a normal part of kids lives. I know that they will appreciate the lessons they’ve learned when they have families of there own (I certainly did).

But even beyond that, we’ve been through enough that the kids have seen the usefulness of food storage in action — a prolonged critical illness for my husband (that meant little income and that I was too busy taking care of him to get to the store), loss of electricity after tornadoes & hurricanes (and the absolute INSANITY that was the grocery store right before Hurricane Rita, since everyone had just watched Katrina go by), and even the very routine loss of water with our town’s water pipe issues.

Since our budget is extremely tight, they have also recognized that food storage means we have a lot more selection…they love having their own little grocery store to choose from, lol. They know how to check for bulging cans and how to rotate stock; generally useful lessons anyway.

They do know not to make it public ~ and the other kids in the neighborhood are obnoxious enough that they aren’t inclined to say anything to them anyway. ;o)

That’s great to hear. Our kids practical education as well as the real-life skills that they will need to survive a difficult future are our responsibility as parents. The state can never replace the role that we as parents have. Sounds like your kids are learning some great skills!

I have done a few activities with them- like making home-made sterno stoves and grinding wheat and making whole wheat bread. They like those activities. They also liked helping to make 72 hr kits.

Keep the kids involved and have fun. I try to educate my kids too- I don’t think public schools do much other than babysit. I teach them history and constitution law.

Just finished loading a bunch of 9mm. Fun!

That’s good advice. My little one is only 2 1/2 now so I haven’t reached that point yet. I assume that if my kids grow up with “preparedness tasks” as part of every-day life that it will be completely normal for them and they won’t feel the need to tell the whole neighborhood so to speak.

However, if your new to preparedness and your kids are a bit older when you’re stocking up, I think as long as you explain it in such a way that they understand the importance of it (like you did with the electricity going out) that they will understand the wisdom behind it. Kids are pretty smart.

Lisa,

You’ve got some older kids. Any advice?

A few times I have had to remind them about OPSEC. After we got a large amount of food storage, the kids told just about everyone in the neighborhood that we have a whole room full of wheat and beans.

Another time, the kids started telling people that if a bad guy comes, I’m going to shoot them with the gun I have under my shirt. (I carry). I have to tell the all the time that it’s a secret and if they accidentally see it, not to tell anyone- we don’t want the bad guys to find out.

Kids say the darnedest things and you just have to be prepared for it. They can also handle a lot of info if you just tell them mater-of-factly. My kids (8,4,4) do just fine with the concept of bad guys getting blasted by me and with the possibility of not having water or electricity for a long time. (how else do I explain the purchase of a wood burning stove and other items to them?)