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08-26-2011, 08:35 PM
With the hurricane approaching, I'm doing a few things to prepare, and the kids - as always - had questions. I explained that I'm putting the lawn chairs and garbage cans in the shed so they don't blow away. I told them what we would and wouldn't be able to do if the power went out. Reassured them that we have plenty of food and water and toilet paper, and that the worst part of the storm will be during the day.
But the look on J's face told me he was still worried. Apparently, he was watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition today and the episode featured a whole community that was devastated by a HURRICANE. Graphic pictures and all. :( Until then, he didn't realize how much damage a hurricane can do. I knew I couldn't gloss things over anymore (even tho I doubt we'll get hit too hard). So we talked about the worst-case scenario. That we'll watch the news and if the hurricane moves closer to us and we need to evacuate, then we'll pack some things and drive to a safe place. I'll do everything I can to keep you safe. If our house is destroyed, we'll find another place to live. We'll buy new things, but we can't buy new people. (That's one thing I always tell them when we talk about fire drills, etc.) We talked about which items are most special to them so we can be sure to bring them with us. We also discussed what would happen to our dogs, turtle, and fish.
I wasn't prepared to go into that much detail about such terrifying things tonight. But I'm glad we did. J seemed solemn, but no longer worried, as he fell asleep. And it helped me too, to talk it out. I just hope I handled it the right way. :nails
If you've talked with your kids about things like this, how did it go? What seemed to reassure them the most?
But the look on J's face told me he was still worried. Apparently, he was watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition today and the episode featured a whole community that was devastated by a HURRICANE. Graphic pictures and all. :( Until then, he didn't realize how much damage a hurricane can do. I knew I couldn't gloss things over anymore (even tho I doubt we'll get hit too hard). So we talked about the worst-case scenario. That we'll watch the news and if the hurricane moves closer to us and we need to evacuate, then we'll pack some things and drive to a safe place. I'll do everything I can to keep you safe. If our house is destroyed, we'll find another place to live. We'll buy new things, but we can't buy new people. (That's one thing I always tell them when we talk about fire drills, etc.) We talked about which items are most special to them so we can be sure to bring them with us. We also discussed what would happen to our dogs, turtle, and fish.
I wasn't prepared to go into that much detail about such terrifying things tonight. But I'm glad we did. J seemed solemn, but no longer worried, as he fell asleep. And it helped me too, to talk it out. I just hope I handled it the right way. :nails
If you've talked with your kids about things like this, how did it go? What seemed to reassure them the most?