Spring Has Sprung With Wild Weather - Is Your Family Ready?

Today started out warm and wet, a lovely, if somewhat overcast, Michigan morning.  It smelled like spring, looked like spring, and the sparrows came back to nest on our front porch for another season.  Spring is wonderful, a new awakening, fresh beginnings, new life abounds.  I love this season.  

But spring also brings wild weather to our parts here in southeast Michigan, and today is no exception.  As I write this, we have just been placed under a weather advisory for severe storms and a tornado watch.  I really enjoy a good storm, but when I hear about severe weather my first thoughts turn to our emergency kit and making sure that we are prepared for any type of weather emergency.  The website Ready.gov has a great tornado fact sheet, including advice on what to put in your emergency kit to help get your family ready.

When I was a kid here in Michigan, we had frequent weather events and I remember many times being in the dark with no power, taking shelter in the basement during big storms, and even people coming to our house during long blizzards with power outages.  They came to us because my parents had supplies, floor space, and a generator.  I was never scared by any potential disaster as a kid since I knew that my parents had all that we needed to see us through.  

Superman and I have tried to pass that feeling of security on to our kids.  We keep our pantry well stocked and our emergency box full and ready.  Our emergency box has the basics:  Candles, matches, batteries, a weather radio, flashlights, duct tape, plastic, a first aid kit, etc.  Our pantry also is ready with the basic supplies to get us through an extended power outage or storm:  Plenty of water, paper goods such as toilet paper and paper towels, staples such as canned fruits and vegetables, flour, rice, sugar, cereal, soups, canned and dry milk, etc.  We also keep flashlights in each bedroom so no one has to scramble around in a panic in the dark.

We're lucky that our kids are curious about weather - we talk often about how weather works and why storms happen, and also what to do when bad weather is on the way.  These conversations have evolved as they have gotten older, with us answering all their questions in an age-appropriate manner.  Discussing and learning about all types of weather has helped the kids to not be afraid when they hear those loud thunder claps and/or tornado sirens and see that lightning - they know what it is, what it means, and how we will stay safe.

Welcome, Spring...and welcome to the wild weather!  Stay safe, everyone!