Like most preppers my family has 72 hour kits for each member of our family. We try to keep the consumable items in them rotated, work to ensure that the spare clothes in them are seasonal and fit, etc. Since my children are too young to be in school right now, I haven’t spent too much time considering how I will handle a “get home”, “bug out” or 72 hour kit for each child once they are spending a significant amount of their day in a state run education center. I also need to consider the restrictive policies in place these days regarding what is “dangerous” per current school policies. This begs the question, as a prepper, how do you handle emergency kits for young school age children when they are away from the home?
While we’ve considered and support home schooling we are not sure if that will be a good fit for our family. Several of our friends (as well as some fellow authors) have or do home school. In fact, my youngest sister is being home schooled now. This of course would eliminate this as a problem from a school perspective, but what about other situations? Whether it is out at a friend’s house, playing sports or in a church sponsored activity, my children are not going to be near our preps all the time. I personally have by get home bag, but I want my children to be trained and to feel prepared and confident in the case of an emergency.
Valerie over at Prepared LDS Family posted on this topic today and explains what she has done for her school age children. There is some good information in her post and it gave me something to think about. My children will likely find a little note with pictures of our family comforting. I also can’t build a small kit that contains everything my child might need, especially in a size a child will be able to keep in their backpack everyday. However, a few juice boxes and granola bars and a space blanket could make all the diferrence.
I know Phil has invested significant time in preparing his children for an emergency. What have you done? How much is too much? I look forward to hearing the conversation on this in our comments section.