Being Prepared for More than a Blow Out

One vital thing that I learned being a mother, was to be prepared. Always. For anything. My diaper bags were always packed for every occasion or mishap. First aid, extra clothes, diversion toys and extra flip flops were always on hand. Sure there were days where I forgot something, but worst case scenario, we could easily live for a week on the Gold Fish crackers under the seats of my car. But that’s just it, I’ve always been ready for the small case scenarios. A child just peed all over himself and you? No worries, I have extra clothes. That crack that jumped out and scraped your knee? I’ve got a bandaid. Oh, sure we can go inside that super nice restaurant for lunch with our 3 small tired children because I have iPads educational toys and snacks!

But when it comes to the large scary worst case scenarios, I’ve always had the mindset of “Yes, fire safety and all that is important. We’ll get to it one day and plus it’ll never happen to us.” But then all it takes is that one time and you're suddenly a part of the “It happened to us” club. When it's simply a trip down to the hardware store and a totally fun family meeting, and you’re prepared to save lives! Yeah, ok. I get it. I’ve been lazy. Thank you Father God that the worst we have had to handle was a few choking incidents, and those were easily solved with a swooping of the throat and a little baby back slapping!

Fast forward a couple years, and our family decides that we are going to start our adoption journey. As I read through our requirements and household safety regulations, I become panicked. How have my children survived thus far without knowing how to properly do CPR, chemical cupboard locks, special detectors and a fire extinguisher!? We are a living time bomb for disaster! As we have gone through the classes and paperwork, I realize that these truly are simple things to invest in. A Saturday afternoon of prep and my family can rest easy, knowing they are safe. My husband and I are now certified CPR super heros, we are working on our family escape route, buying a fire extinguisher, replacing all the detector batteries, teaching the kids the correct time to call 911 and praying to our heavenly Father that none of it has to be used!
Why not as mothers do everything we can (in a sane and acceptable way...don’t bubble wrap your child) to be completely prepared to keep our families safe and alive! I pray that Dale’s talk didn’t fall on deaf ears and that we all went home and at least thought about what we would do in case of an emergency.




Motherhood. It is not for the faint of heart.