So you are stocking up on food, water, seeds, guns & ammo. You have your BOB packed. You have your rain gear, extra clothes. The family has their communication plan in place, you are all set for most any type of disaster right? Maybe not.
One thing that I seldom read about when it comes to preparing for an emergency situation is entertainment. Regardless of the type of disaster you will be stressed and out of your routine.
If you have gone through a local storm such as a hurricane, you will have a lot of cleanup work. What if there is a full economic collapse? That will again cause stress not just for the family but all those around as well.
As much as the adults in the family will be hit hard, the kids will really be hit hard. They are not able to understand things as well as adults (sometimes even as adults we don’t understand). You work hard on a good day, during a disaster, regardless of the type, you will be working twice as hard. You will need and require some downtime, time to play and relax a little.
One thing we have all gotten accustomed to is the ease of entertainment we all have access too. Be it TV, Netflix, video games, even going out to the movies is second nature. We need down time and have a choice as to the type of entertainment during that down time. In an emergency situation such as hurricane for example, this down time and entertainment is twice as important for the entire family but may not be as normal as it is now.
During these times there may not be any power, if that is the case, how will you watch TV, or play video games? Believe it or not you and/or your kids just may be addicted to these electronic luxuries and batteries only last so long to keep a hand held game or DVD player going.
The time to plan for entertainment replacement is now, not when the disaster has happened. A good idea would be to begin preparing the family for different forms of entertainment, now, when times are good. Start having a family game night each week. Make the whole event family centric, right down to voting on what game to play. It could be board games, card games, maybe even games like Pictionary. Whatever it is, make it a fun family event. This will help get the kids use to alternate forms of entertainment, it will help wean them off video games, and has an added bonus, you will be surprised on how your family unit will grow closer together, always a good thing.
Have different events for each night of the week, have one night a week where the family has a book reading night. Read together as a family as well as each of you should have a favorite book around. Remember, there may not be any power, that Kindle battery only lasts just so long. Be sure to have some real old fashion books on the shelves. (In a future post I will talk about solar charging options for small electronics)
Be creative, think back on what our pioneers used as entertainment. Maybe playing a guitar and singing together, telling stories, playing charades. Playing checkers, chess, or card games or telling camp fire type stories. You may be in an emergency situation for several days or weeks, so you may need may different forms of entertainment as well, you don’t want you or those little ones getting bored.
Keep in mind the ages you have in the family. Also remember, that as with any prepping, this should not be a “plan it and leave it” part of your prepping. As your kids grow, the forms of entertainment need to grow as well, the board games should be age appropriate as should the books or other forms of entertainment you choose. You also need to be in the habit for using this type of entertainment now, just like getting in shape, you have to train every day for the big event, not just wait for the event then start the race, it would be too hard to have such a drastic change in entertainment if you haven’t been practicing and playing with the new forms of entertainment now.
Prepping is important, so is playing. Don’t overlook entertainment options for your family, and start using those different options now so it won’t be such a shock when the lights go out and the video games or DVDs don’t work.
11 Jan 2014
0 CommentsDon’t Forget About Entertainment
One thing that I seldom read about when it comes to preparing for an emergency situation is entertainment. Regardless of the type of disaster you will be stressed and out of your routine.
If you have gone through a local storm such as a hurricane, you will have a lot of cleanup work. What if there is a full economic collapse? That will again cause stress not just for the family but all those around as well.
As much as the adults in the family will be hit hard, the kids will really be hit hard. They are not able to understand things as well as adults (sometimes even as adults we don’t understand). You work hard on a good day, during a disaster, regardless of the type, you will be working twice as hard. You will need and require some downtime, time to play and relax a little.
One thing we have all gotten accustomed to is the ease of entertainment we all have access too. Be it TV, Netflix, video games, even going out to the movies is second nature. We need down time and have a choice as to the type of entertainment during that down time. In an emergency situation such as hurricane for example, this down time and entertainment is twice as important for the entire family but may not be as normal as it is now.
During these times there may not be any power, if that is the case, how will you watch TV, or play video games? Believe it or not you and/or your kids just may be addicted to these electronic luxuries and batteries only last so long to keep a hand held game or DVD player going.
The time to plan for entertainment replacement is now, not when the disaster has happened. A good idea would be to begin preparing the family for different forms of entertainment, now, when times are good. Start having a family game night each week. Make the whole event family centric, right down to voting on what game to play. It could be board games, card games, maybe even games like Pictionary. Whatever it is, make it a fun family event. This will help get the kids use to alternate forms of entertainment, it will help wean them off video games, and has an added bonus, you will be surprised on how your family unit will grow closer together, always a good thing.
Have different events for each night of the week, have one night a week where the family has a book reading night. Read together as a family as well as each of you should have a favorite book around. Remember, there may not be any power, that Kindle battery only lasts just so long. Be sure to have some real old fashion books on the shelves. (In a future post I will talk about solar charging options for small electronics)
Be creative, think back on what our pioneers used as entertainment. Maybe playing a guitar and singing together, telling stories, playing charades. Playing checkers, chess, or card games or telling camp fire type stories. You may be in an emergency situation for several days or weeks, so you may need may different forms of entertainment as well, you don’t want you or those little ones getting bored.
Keep in mind the ages you have in the family. Also remember, that as with any prepping, this should not be a “plan it and leave it” part of your prepping. As your kids grow, the forms of entertainment need to grow as well, the board games should be age appropriate as should the books or other forms of entertainment you choose. You also need to be in the habit for using this type of entertainment now, just like getting in shape, you have to train every day for the big event, not just wait for the event then start the race, it would be too hard to have such a drastic change in entertainment if you haven’t been practicing and playing with the new forms of entertainment now.
Prepping is important, so is playing. Don’t overlook entertainment options for your family, and start using those different options now so it won’t be such a shock when the lights go out and the video games or DVDs don’t work.