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JJ_ | 06-23-2008 12:16 PM
Kids, Prepping and TSHTF Lately I’ve been giving thought to the matter of having small children in the midst of life changing events. It’s something that weighs heavily on my mind and heart. My son is about to turn 6 and my daughter is 2. I think the reason it bothers me so much is because they are really getting the short end of the stick—being born into a messed up world that they had no part of; inheriting the fruit of the sins of their fathers. I am well aware though and I say it all the time … “Who says life is fair?” “It is what it is…Now what are you going to do about it?” I’ve resigned myself to figuring out “what I’m going to do about it.”- As any preparedness minded person has. The obvious basics are being addressed as well as can be- kids are just little people after all.. Food, Water, Shelter. As for water and shelter, obviously the need is to stay hydrated and protections from the heat and cold. To be concise primarily on the food requirements, here’s a few thoughts I’ve gathered: Food – Kids can be picky eaters refusing to eat their favorite dishes even when their world is safe and secure. The idea in my estimation is to have some semblance of normalcy and I believe that this can be had by making sure that their diet does not go from pizza and mac-n-cheese to MRE’s overnight. BUT WAIT!! – Mac-n-Cheese actually has a pretty good shelf life! Powdered milk Breakfast cereal – (planning to store Mason Jar – Dry can style and in Mylar) Kool-aide, Gatorade &/or other drink mixes Dehydrated fruit and (some) veggies – especially carrots! (my kids like carrots) PASTA- (invaluable) Sugar – Kids gotta have sugar- right? Canned spaghetti and ravioli Fresh eggs if you are fortunate enough to have chickens. Fresh Bread from milled grain (I gotta work on that one) Chewable vitamins HARD CANDY! – in moderation of course. And certainly their diet will be supplemented or even sustained w/ anything the grownups may be eating especially in order to get necessary proteins… meat, beans, ect. That list can definitely go on (it does) and be expanded on – Pease DO! Now that I have addressed the physical needs, what about a kid’s emotional needs; what about the sudden jolt to their mentality that “hey – everything is cool… life is fun… Mommy and Daddy will ALWAYS be there to take care of me…” What about when THAT goes away. How do you prep for that?? Heck, I’m having a tough time potty training my 2 year old. Now this?!? :D Well yeah – this is where it gets tough alright. For the toddler I see an advantage and a disadvantage all at once. The advantage?? – she will have less to unlearn. The disadvantage is that she can’t comprehend just yet what will actually be going on around her; but she will pick up on the fact that something is very wrong. She will cling to mother and father and be very whiney for sure; probably won’t sleep well and get picky with her eating. What can I do about all of that? Love her. Hold her a lot. Be patient with her. Try to make time to play toys with her. All in-between checking provisions, patrolling and scouting intel, maintaining fortifications, and defending against JBT’s and roving gangs of MZBBWG’s (mutant zombie biker bandits w/ guns) – yes I jest a bit here, but no one honestly knows what we’ll be dealing with – BUT – I do know that kids will need attention and I am no less a father once the doo doo splatters. Now- w/ my 6 year old I can make some adjustments. I feel a bit more comfortable about what I can teach him. Not because he’s a boy but because he’s older. All in the same day I can take him to a baseball game, ride bikes, and we can have a father to son talk about the world we live in. I can teach him to appreciate and be thankful for what he has. We can talk about how in some places of the world children go without toys or bikes…… or food… or clothes….. or their mommies and daddies… because they were killed by soldiers or terrorists or by indiscriminate roadside bombs or tsunami’s earthquakes and fire. Shoot…we can even get on the net and look at pictures of those kids – tears in their eyes and blood on their clothes. He has to know it’s real. Yeah I’m sure I raised some eyebrows…. Maybe made some gasp. I don’t do that out of some sick demented desire to get a shocked reaction out of him. I don’t do that to make the boy a man… not yet. I still want him to be a kid. I still want him to enjoy life. He’s blessed. I want him to appreciate it. From there I want to teach him that what he sees on that computer screen could be easily seen here where he lives in his lifetime. – From that vantage point, he gets the red pill dissolved in his daily kool-aid. So basically I try to teach him patience, respect, physical and mental toughness, compassion and longsuffering, problem solving, and – the boy can shoot. :D I do have to admit. This is not easy. I sometimes think I am too hard on the boy. Expect too much of him.. but at the same time, I don’t really feel all that bad about it- under the circumstances, he’ll be way better off than J6p’s marshmallow rug rats. Sorry for the long post at any rate – and I didn’t do it to get ANY validation or approval. This is how I’m doing it. I may change some but for now – this is the plan. I’m very interested to hear what others are doing.

Brent | 06-23-2008 12:26 PM
Re: Kids, Prepping and TSHTF Sounds like you are doing great so far. The one thing that popped into my mind after reading was their future education. I'm not sure what your personal library looks like but I have been building mine since I took the red pill. Not only for my personal education but for my younger sisters as well as my future children. Good luck.

Someone_else | 06-23-2008 01:41 PM
Re: Kids, Prepping and TSHTF Quote:
Originally Posted by JJ ShortStroke (Post 1158922) I think the reason it bothers me so much is because they are really getting the short end of the stick�being born into a messed up world that they had no part of; inheriting the fruit of the sins of their fathers. I am well aware though and I say it all the time � �Who says life is fair?�
I understand that you or others may disagree with this idea, since it is of a religious nature, but ... Perhaps you might consider the idea that being here right now is their choice. Things are going to be happening very quickly, and maybe they want to be part of it. Maybe they will have important roles to play in some way or another. So maybe they chose to be here now, and you might take some pride that of all the families, they chose you. And surely they made a good choice. :D

silverJeep | 06-23-2008 04:33 PM
Re: Kids, Prepping and TSHTF My kids are 10, 8, 3, and 2 mos. As far as food goes, with the exception of the infant, the rest eat what we eat. Americans have kids that are picky eaters. That will have to stop when the picky food is no longer available. Start training them now. If you have all the money in teh world, I'm sure you can find stuff that will last forever that they'll like. But I've been more concerned with the other aspects. My wife homeschools, so their education will be taken care of. I teach my older boys shooting, how to play guitar and what it means to be a man. YES, we have man-class. My wife and I handle the spiritual education as well. Go to garage sales and pick up board games, puzzles, things to do when the TV isn't on, power is off, or when the news on TV is too bad to watch. For thousands of years kids played as kids without anything electronic. AND HAD A BLAST. Stock up on kool-aid packs, mac-n-cheese, and a few "special" things that are taken for granted now, but could be enjoyed later. You cannot shelter them from what's coming. You can soften the blow by making some preps for them. I too have agonized about my kids future.

Avalon | 06-23-2008 05:23 PM
Re: Kids, Prepping and TSHTF Quote:
Originally Posted by Someone_else (Post 1159064) I understand that you or others may disagree with this idea, since it is of a religious nature, but ... Perhaps you might consider the idea that being here right now is their choice. Things are going to be happening very quickly, and maybe they want to be part of it. Maybe they will have important roles to play in some way or another. So maybe they chose to be here now, and you might take some pride that of all the families, they chose you. And surely they made a good choice. :D
This fits in with my spirital beliefs too. We all made the choice to be here and live through what is coming...Still it might have been one of those ideas that sounded better at the time....lol

Awoke | 06-23-2008 05:23 PM
Re: Kids, Prepping and TSHTF I'm in the same position, JJ ShortStroke, but my girls are 6 and 8. What I have done is start talking to them about food, roughing it, etc. They have become accustomed to eating wild fish, venison, and they aren't afraid to try something new if I tell them it's safe and tastes good. I have also made sure to open their minds a little, by telling them that there are people all round the world that eat things they wouldn't ever imagine, from insects to tree bark to eels, snakes and squirrels, and that these people like it. I've also explained that there are people around the world that would think the food we eat is "gross". They understand that a day may come when we have to pack up and leave our house and live in the woods, and that we will have to eat things that aren't standard in our diet right now, and they're game. Just talk to them, mentally prepare them without causing any anxiety. It can be done easily, with a bunch of no-pressure, no consequence conversations just to make them think about food differently.

Avalon | 06-23-2008 05:31 PM
Re: Kids, Prepping and TSHTF JJShortstoke and Silver jeep. Its nice to hear about parents that take an active role in their children's life. I think Parents like you guys are in tune with what your children need. The upcoming trend of Government interfering with parental discipline and authority is one of the scariest things on the horizon. We had a serious water shortage here in NC this winter. The TV started playing commercials about kids telling their parents to use water responsibly. The whole commencal was Government bull. You could almost see the next commercial in the series would be telling kids to turn in their parents for wasting water... Very disturbing..

JJ_ | 06-23-2008 09:43 PM
Re: Kids, Prepping and TSHTF Quote:
Originally Posted by silverJeep (Post 1159374) My kids are 10, 8, 3, and 2 mos. ....... My wife homeschools, so their education will be taken care of. I teach my older boys shooting, how to play guitar and what it means to be a man. YES, we have man-class. My wife and I handle the spiritual education as well. Go to garage sales and pick up board games, puzzles, things to do when the TV isn't on, power is off, or when the news on TV is too bad to watch. For thousands of years kids played as kids without anything electronic. AND HAD A BLAST. Stock up on kool-aid packs, mac-n-cheese, and a few "special" things that are taken for granted now, but could be enjoyed later. You cannot shelter them from what's coming. You can soften the blow by making some preps for them. I too have agonized about my kids future.
Man class-- I like it. So simple. I think I can begin to pass on some lessons. I could do to put away more diversions as well. good thoughts - thanks. Brent - we're pretty good on kid books. My library is lacking though. I do most of my reading on the computer. Gave me something to think about . Good stuff from all of you - thanks :)

buff01 | 06-24-2008 03:56 AM
Re: Kids, Prepping and TSHTF If you teach them to be self-sufficient and give them sage advice, I'm sure they will make their way through the world just fine, regardless of the state of things. I would also add that simply not having cable/satellite TV in the home will force them to have more productive hobbies, and have the added benefit of not letting TPTB rot their brain with propaganda.

Banjo | 06-24-2008 11:04 AM
Re: Kids, Prepping and TSHTF Quote:
Originally Posted by JJ ShortStroke (Post 1158922) I still want him to be a kid. I still want him to enjoy life. He�s blessed. I want him to appreciate it.
I think that you've got it, right there. After the obvious physical needs are met, it's very important to let your kids be kids and enjoy life. There is plenty of time for them to be adults and bear the burdens of the world but this isn't that time. A happy, care-free childhood will lead to a well adjusted adult who will be able to stand on their own and deal with what life throws at them. It seems to me that a parent's job is to provide that for their children. Sounds to me like you're doing a good job of it.

mike77777 | 06-24-2008 11:55 PM
Re: Kids, Prepping and TSHTF taking care of granddaughter 19 month's old now. went camping last week[on prep thread] to give her a taste of a possible future type life. she saw the pacific ocean, and that was a treat for her. did fine with what wife and i eat, teaching her the local edible plants as we go around the yard here[dandelions,berries etc.] so far so good. incarnating at the present time may turn out to be one of those "was a good idea at the time" decisions. like that cowboy poster of some 60 year old beat up ranchhand saying " there were a helluva lot of things they didn't tell me when i signed up with this outfit"

nickelless | 06-25-2008 10:30 PM
Re: Kids, Prepping and TSHTF Quote:
Originally Posted by Brent (Post 1158935) Sounds like you are doing great so far. The one thing that popped into my mind after reading was their future education. I'm not sure what your personal library looks like but I have been building mine since I took the red pill. Not only for my personal education but for my younger sisters as well as my future children. Good luck.
The only valuables I haven't sold off to buy food, ammo and preps are precious metals and books. Quite to the contrary, I'm hitting up thrift stores at least once a week to buy another 10 shirts for $20 and to see if I can find another 10-15 books to add to my library. People today forget that back in the Depression, people might not have had money but they had community and knowledge. You can have all the money and preps you want and still not have a clue about how big of a world you can find in books. Which is one reason why I worry about stupid things that ignorant, uneducated (I didn't say unschooled--idiots graduate every day) people will do WTSHTF.

macrohard | 06-26-2008 12:45 AM
Re: Kids, Prepping and TSHTF Quote:
Originally Posted by JJ ShortStroke (Post 1158922) .....inheriting the fruit of the sins of their fathers.....
Oh..so you're not their only dad? :bull-buddy-icon:

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