Preparing for a Disaster

If you do nothing else with what I've written here tonight, please take a moment and read this.

As I prepared to do a presentation on our trip to Japan last year, I ran across this blog. It impressed me in so many ways, but this particular post left a HUGE mark. A mark that will probably never leave me.

One thing that going to Japan did was make disasters take on a new facet. I have been concerned with emergency preparedness for most of my life, but I have to admit, because I've lived in safe circumstances, that I held these kinds of things at arms length. The experience in Japan made tragic circumstances so real and so human. I realized that part of our preparations had to be more than just having enough water and food for our family in the event of an emergency, it had to include some kind of emotional preparation.

A few months after returning, we sat down as a Primary presidency and created a plan to begin some of this emotional preparation for the children we look after. We know that if a disaster were to occur, our church building would become a Red Cross shelter. It is a fact that if something terrible were to happen to any of our family, the rest would gather there. It is possible that in such a situation, our children could be in the care of complete strangers. This is an awful reality to face, but I'm sure that the mother in the story from the link above would never have dreamed that her little girl would be essentially alone and in such circumstances.

image credit: cowalbagpipes.com

We decided that we wanted there to be a greater chance that the 70 +/- children in our ward would know at least someone that would end up at that same shelter. We decided that the children needed to know more of the adults in our ward, so each week, we invite four people--two children and two adults or youth--to share a talent with the children. One child and one adult present in junior Primary and the other two in senior. It is a simple thing, but it has been so eye-opening. We have had everything from bagpipes played to expressions of love and care for animals to drawings with chalk on chalkboards. My own son got up and showed everyone how he could write his own name. We've had one child share what a good balancer he is and have experienced a drum solo, a guitar solo, and a number of piano solos. We've even had a child doing cartwheels in the back of the room. I have learned so much that I didn't know about the people I rub shoulders with on a weekly basis. It has been truly fascinating!

Although the purpose of this exercise is to make the children aware of those that surround them each Sunday and at church activities, today, something else became very clear to me.

image credit: www.hoosier-rainbows.com

As I greeted children at the door this morning, our talent child walked in proudly carrying a Ziploc bag with all kinds of colorful things in it. I was excited to hear what she had to share. When it was her turn, she and her mom stood in front of the room and told us about all of this five-year-old's creations. She showed us Legos that she'd put together, bracelets and rings made from beads, pages she'd carefully colored and even a stained glass butterfly wind chime. I loved it and secretly wished that I could do such things, but my talents lie elsewhere.

image credit: benchprep.com

After this little girl sat down, one of the women in our ward stood up. In her hands she held a very large, green textbook. On the spine, I could read the word "Calculus." She shared that when she was little,  she loved school, and particularly, math. She told the children that she had struggled with it even though she loved it, had worked her way through it and in college decided to become a math teacher. Wow! I had no idea. Wouldn't it be amazing to be able to think like that?!

As I sat there and listened to these talents, a very strong feeling hit me. During all of these months of seeing kids and adults bring in sports equipment and piano pieces, I learned that we are all so different. Our talents and our experiences are so varied. We all complement each other so well, but although we are different, we are also so much alike through our beliefs and our spiritual experiences. These things bring us together and to a similar place.

What a relief and blessing it is to think that if something were to happen to us, our children would be in the hands of such people as these. We never explained the reason for our "talent spotlight" to the children. We didn't want to scare them. We only wanted to build a foundation. My hope is that through the willingness of these individuals to share a small part of themselves, they will come to know our children and our children will come to know them. My hope is that the emotional strain of a tragedy would in some small way be decreased, and that a repeat of what happened to Luna would never happen to any of the children I know.

Only Two Kickers

Soccer season begins tomorrow. The older boys have been practicing through the month of August, but games begin tomorrow. It looks, though, like my boy who has been DYING to play soccer since infancy (practically) is out of luck. **Sigh**

As a Kindergartener, this would be his first season. With Kindys and 1st graders, practices happen for 30 minutes before games. There are no midweek practices. We've been waiting on an email from a coach. There has been none.

I finally emailed two days ago and have heard nothing. My friend's husband is coaching, so they helped me out quite a bit. I logged onto the website at her suggestion and found that it said he was "assigned" but the magical word, I guess, is "activated." I saw that next to the other boys' names, but not by his. 

This makes me so sad. My mind is drawn back to back when #6 was two and would talk about, "Dindarks and keets"and would find the smallest pair he could find in the house and wear them to his siblings' games. Seriously, soccer has been HUGE for this kid." 

I guess, at this point, I'm kind of hoping that the Warden will step forward and coach--what are the chances? Especially since for the next two Saturdays the other two boys have two games each. It will make my life crazy, but maybe that's the sacrifice I'll have to make so that #6 can do what he's dreamed of for all these years. If not, there are many years ahead.

I'm hoping they get this all figured out.

S.I., Really?!

We are a sports family. I, personally, am not much of a  fan unless I'm watching my kids participate, but the Warden'd watch championship miniature golf and be completely content. We set quite a large budget aside each month to pay to have our kids participate in soccer, basketball, track, cross country, etc. In short, I guess you could say it's a big priority.

image credit: flickriver.com

Each year, the middle school has a magazine drive as a fund raiser. Every year, without fail, I resubscribe to Sports Illustrated for the Warden. I really only ever read Rick Reilly's column, which now no longer exists, in the back pages; he was always good for a laugh. The kids, though, have come to love reading Sports Illustrated as well. One year I subscribed to ESPN Magazine but was so disappointed with all of the alcohol and cigarette ads that I stopped that subscription early. Does that seem a bit ironic to anyone else--a sports magazine in which people who are physically fit show off their athletic prowess and on the facing page...a big ol' package of cigarettes? I'm sorry, I just don't get that, but Sports Illustrated, who also allow alcohol companies to advertise (although a lot fewer and a lot less in-your-face than ESPN--this month's has five in a 150-page magazine) has become the coveted thing at our house. The kids start asking if it's arrived starting about Wednesday of each week.

image credit: livegreentwincities.com

Every year except the last two, I watch for that fateful day when I find, in my hands as I pull the mail from the mailbox, the swimsuit edition. As I walk straight to the recycling can, I realize how much I miss our wood burning stove. I think, "What a waste!" I spent money for this, but there's no way it's going to enter my house. I really find very little difference between it and Playboy.

I'm wondering if at some point in the history of Sports Illustrated, the editor was a former swimmer with a vendetta against some woman who laughed at him in his Speedo. I mean, I can understand Speedos causing some amount of resentment, but what does a woman wearing a very narrow ribbon--not even strategically placed--have to do with sports? Save that kind of stuff for those magazines that they put in those less obvious places in the grocery store.

I would like to assert that akin to cigarettes and alcohol, naked women have nothing to do with sports. Yes, Sports Illustrated has a Kids version available too. We subscribed to that for awhile, but what's my husband supposed to do? Hide his magazine under the bed? Lock it in a cupboard?

These past couple years, I've been happy to see that, when subscribing, S.I. sans swimsuit edition has become an option for people such as me, so I must not be alone in my opinion about this issue, but yesterday, our regular, weekly magazine arrived, and you know what was in there? Yup. An ADVERTISEMENT for the upcoming pornography swimsuit issue, and you'd better believe the model wasn't wearing a one-piece. C'mon S.I.! There are children in the house. Have some class!

The Blog: The Weapon

image credit: englishwithjo.com

I wonder if my children cringe when they see that I've written something about them. You'll notice that if I use one of their numbers to signify who they are, it's because what I'm writing is positive. If I write about something negative, I find ways to make their identity rather anonymous. There are so many lessons in life to be learned, and most of what I write here is because there is a cumulative lesson that I'm starting to understand. Cumulative in that experience after experience builds up to the point of being no longer able to deny what is going on around me. Sometimes those lessons fill up my brain, and I have to let them out.

image credit: 123rf.com

It seems funny to me that when I write a post about putting my foot in my mouth, I end up putting my foot in my mouth, but maybe in this case, it's my keyboard more than my foot.

I want you to know that my purpose in blogging is not to defame people or to cause any negative light to be cast on anyone. I know that I could easily use this as a means of hurting many. I choose not to.

I feel that there is so much negative on the internet. I don't need to add to it. My purpose here is only to uplift and express myself. I don't believe in wasting my time wallowing in the murk that's out there. Yes, sometimes I do gripe and moan about things, but I really try to keep that to a minimum.

image credit: doloresayotte.wordpress.com

Yesterday I posted about a couple of experiences that had taught me a very important lesson. I felt it was something that needed to be written down and shared, but I didn't see the trees for forest. I was so excited to write about what I was learning that I wasn't thinking about protecting those I wrote about. I apologize for that.