Children Are Good for Prepping

As I was putting my tent away, the thought occurred to me that children can be good for prepping.  My daughter likes to camp in the backyard, roast smores and weenies, and play with the fire.  I discovered I can assemble the tent, alone, at night.  I also know how to build a fire in the same conditions.  Having a child has made me a better prepper.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

This is a common phrase that will apply to preppers more than most people.  There was a time in my life when I considered the cost and effort to survive in a Stuff-Hits-The-Fan situation that I could consider my life well lived, do my best, and have peace believing that it was my time to go should things become so bad that violent gangs roam the streets.  Now that I have a child, that creates a whole different scenario.  I won’t let my daughter fall prey to animals (figuratively and literally). 

Expect the Unexpected

Stuff will happen often when it is least expected or when other stuff is happening simultaneously.  Parents adjust to that.  There are those who go through life with a victim mentality, and others who go through life like a warrior.  Good parents always (as far as I have noted) face the same challenges as everyone else, with the added challenges associated with caring for their child, and they get through it in a way that appears to shelter the child from the negative reality.  Challenges are turned into games.  I see this very often and use the technique myself.

I know that a prepper’s greatest asset is their attitude in the event something happens.  So what if a prepper does not have everything they need to survive The-End-Of-The-World-As-We-Know-It?  A prepper who has at least the basics covered can plan for how to deal with the rest.  Hopefully they will meet others who have strengths the prepper lacks.  Maybe they can trade.  Maybe they can be part of each other’s mutual aid group.  In my opinion, having a positive attitude and a plan are the most important assets a prepper can have.  I would rather be with others who have a good attitude and are also resourceful than with people who have all kinds of gear and lousy attitude.

Have What You Need

Most mothers (in particular) are natural preppers.  I can’t tell you how many times I have needed something unexpectedly and another mother happens to have one of those handy (whatever it is that is needed).  I am not exaggerating.  Having what you absolutely need on hand can allow you to complete your outing versus going home (or to a clinic).

My college roommate, whose father is a dentist, was on the family farm when he tripped or something and knocked out his front tooth.  This was a very rural area.  Probably 99 times out of 100, somebody will go to a hospital or clinic.  In this circumstance, the dentist put some Super Glue on the tooth and stuck it back in the socket where it remained for at least ten years.  It may still be there today.

Sanitation

The first challenge I had to overcome with a child is sanitation.  There is so much poop cleanup dealing with infants and toddlers that parents get used to having to keep themselves and their child clean and dispose of the waste.  It sounds simple but isn’t unless you are prepared.  What happens when your child has diarrhea in the mall parking lot when you are doing Christmas shopping the one afternoon you have off of work?  What happens when your child starts vomiting on a road trip and you are 30 minutes or further away from a store that will have paper towels and trash bags (forget about Pedialyte).

In a SHTF for TEOTWAWKI situation, sanitation will be a huge factor.  It is something we take for granted in our modern society.  Parents, regardless of education or formal training, will be better able to handle it than most of our newly minted college graduates.

Immunity Defense

My daughter’s first 18 months were spent at home.  My wife got stir crazy and went back to work.  That is when we put our daughter in daycare.  Historically, I have been fairly healthy from the perspective that I do not get ill very often.  Everything changed when daycare started. 

I have never been sicker in my entire life than I was the first year of daycare.  I actually took sick days at work (which was VERY rare for my prior to having a child).  I was coughing constantly, had raspatory issues and diarrhea.  At one point I had stuff coming out both ends SIMULTANEOUSLY!  Nothing in my life had changed, so I figured it had to have something to do with exposure to everyone else’s cooties at daycare.  Spice can explain it in technical terms, but I will call it cooties, and they are VERY real.  I have taken an informal poll among my friends in similar situations.  Parents get sick being exposed to the cooties at daycare and school, but they get over it just like the kiddos do.

My theory is that having been exposed to these things has made my body and immune system stronger because my daughter is in the same daycare, and I am no longer sick.  The first year was the worst.  It took another year to get over the coughing and other lingering respiratory issues.  All is well now.  My immune system appears to be stronger and better able to defend against a greater variety of threats than it was before my daughter entering daycare.

Activity

Kids like to do stuff that gets me off my lazy posterior which is good for prepping.   Camping requires prepper skills.   Cooking outdoors requires prepper skills.  The simple act of going on bicycle rides is a prep in a variety of ways:

1. My bicycle is my Bug-Out Vehicle if my vehicles do not work.  Riding it forces me to keep it maintained and operational.
2. I get some exercise.
3. I tend to explore on my bicycle and notice more details about my surroundings such as which neighbors have vehicles without electronics, who have HAM base stations, who has a good supply of tools, who gardens, which homes have security systems, which homes have solar systems, which homes have unique materials that will come in handy in the event SHTF happens, who are the families with young children, which homes are owned by elderly people, which home would I want to occupy in the event people leave their homes en masse, and so forth.

My daughter likes to explore.  One day we got off the roads and trails and followed the train track to our house which allowed me to have another view of our neighborhood which brought me some comfort to see how easy parts of it would be to secure and defend.  Where are the choke points?  Where are we most vulnerable?  Where are we strongest?  What are the best observation points? How could it be protected?  Is there enough land to grow food in a long-term survival situation?  Where are the sources of water?  How large are the pipes going under the railroad track (indicates the flow rate of the creek at flood stage)?  Is the terrain sufficient to build a reservoir?  Where might we put/bury the bodies in the event of TEOTWAWKI?

Switching to Manual Tools and Devices

My daughter has long hair.  She was given a little motorized car and track for Christmas 2017.  The car has an on and off switch.  She picked the car up, her hair got caught in the wheel and it hurt her.  That was nothing because the motor was not strong enough do any damage.  Do that with my drills, saws and other motorized things I have all over the place and that can be a REAL problem.

Of course, I don’t let my daughter play with power tools unsupervised, but neither do I lock them up.  She is very much a hands-on girl.  I hammer, she hammers.  I drill, she drills.  She would want to use the miter saw, but she holds her ears because of the sound (which is the way I want it for now).   She is naturally inquisitive, and I want to encourage her to learn how to do what I can do, but do so safely.  That is where a prepper thought occurred to me.

I decided it was safer (and more beneficial for teaching the basics) to start using manual tools instead of power tools (when practical).  This way she can learn in a safe and slow manner.  By using a manual saw, she will get a better understanding of how all saws work whether they be circular, reciprocating or belt.  By using a manual drill, she will get a better understanding of how awesome power drills are, and also their limitations and challenges.  By using a tree saw and axe (or hatchet in her case), she will gain a better appreciation for power chain saws, and understand their limitations.  Also, I get the prepper benefit of having manual tools that I might have overlooked.   Most importantly, it buys me some time to teach my daughter some skills until she learns to tuck her hair into her shirt or hat or something when she is around power tools. 

The thing that probably means more to me is recalling the memories of my grandfather taking me into his shop and showing me how he did stuff.  I have not recalled those memories for 30 years.  While writing the Prepper Toolbox series, I recalled Grandpa teaching me how the chuck on a drill worked.  I thought he was a genius for taping the chuck key to the end of the power cord (it made it safer and easier in case anyone is wondering).

My four-year-old daughter has made me a better prepper for the aforementioned reasons, but I am going to give you one more that I think will surprise most people.

Merman’s Get Home Vehicle – Kid Tested, Prepper Approved

One of the more novel things I learned from my daughter is my selection of a new Get Home Vehicle.  My office is about 20 miles from my house.  In the event SHTF, getting to my daughter, at daycare, in a timely manner is a concern of mine.  A bicycle would solve that problem, but they are large, and I don’t want to carry one around.  I researched folding bicycles, found a few that were affordable and probably acceptable.  I almost purchased one until my daughter introduced me to my new Get Home Vehicle.

 

Yup, my Get Home Vehicle is now a scooter, and it was inspired by my child.

My daughter likes to do things with me, no matter what it is.  She can’t ride a bicycle yet, but she likes to ride her scooter.  I observed her cousin on his superior three-wheel scooter, and that kid can quickly disappear around the corner in a matter of seconds.  Seeing the obvious benefit of having another activity I can do with my daughter, I upgraded her scooter and bought one of my own.

Okay, you want to know more about why I like scooters even though it is off-topic

A man with a scooter isn’t the typical idea people have when they think of preppers.  Guns, yes.  Scooter, not so much.  It is understandable that most readers will think I must be an idiot.  We all have different situations, different concerns, and I don’t mind sharing in the interest that I believe it will help some readers.

Why did I choose the scooter as one of my essential preps?

1. Speed.  Working 20 miles from home would require probably seven hours to get home on foot.  I can travel easily three times faster on a scooter, and I get the added benefit of gravity going downhill.  I estimate I might be able to get to my daughter’s daycare in three hours or less.  That is a significant difference.
2. Cost.  Scooters are relatively inexpensive compared to bicycles.
3. Easy.  The tires don’t go flat and chains don’t break.  Repairs require tools, and the skill and time to make the repair.
4. Small.  The small size and ability to fold allow me to carry it in any vehicle, take it into my office, and have it when I need it.  The biggest problem with a bicycle was the size that make it unwanted for my lifestyle. 
5. Multitasker.  The primary purpose of the scooter is to enjoy an activity with my daughter.  I get some health benefits from being active.  Last, but certainly not least, I have the peace of mind knowing I can get to my daughter more quickly in the event it is necessary.

I realized a few years ago that having a child required me to become a better prepper in that I had to anticipate likely problems and have the items to handle them accessible.  The need for diapers, wipes and blankets may have gone away, but the skills and improvements I learned during those phases of my daughter’s life remain.  We have also had fun together along the journey.