This is where I write about all the miscellaneous little things that have been swimming around in my brain for the past while...and hope I can finish it all before Sariah wakes up from her nap.
First bit of news: Sariah is potty-training! And I had (almost) nothing to do with it! I cannot believe we're at this point--Dallin was 3 years old before we even started; Sariah is not even 2 yet. I was in no hurry, but she has made it blatantly obvious that she is ready to use the potty. For the past several months she has been letting is know when her diaper needs to be changed. She has also had a huge fascination with helping to care for her own hygiene and loves to wipe herself and to put on diaper ointment.
So a month or so ago, I got out the potty chair and sat it in the bathroom so she could start to get used to it. She loved to sit on it occasionally, and even once--by accident--went potty in it, but that was about it. Until this past Saturday. She came to me at one point and urgently exclaimed, "Potty!" For some reason, I had the thought to take her in and put her on the potty, which I did. She sat there for a few seconds, and then did her business. I was floored. She did this same thing four other times that day. In fact, James told me she had done it that morning while I was gone. Sunday was a repeat of Saturday. Monday was more of the same, and today she has continued to go potty in the toilet. She's had a few accidents and a few times when she hasn't told me and obviously hasn't felt the need to go in the potty. And she won't poop there. But by and large, she's using it. And it's all been her own doing.
I keep pinching myself, waiting for something to go wrong. Can it really be this easy? Also, I wasn't ready to start this. I have an insanely busy month this next month, and I wasn't taking on any projects during that time. But Sariah obviously has other ideas. So I guess I'm going along for the ride! I just hope this isn't a trick.
Food storage and emergency preparedness have been on my mind a lot lately. I hope that any of you who live in Utah have taken the time to check out the link in my sidebar to www.myfoodstoragedeals.com . It's fabulous! The site highlights the deals at the five major grocery stores in Utah and also tells you how much of each thing you need to have a years' supply. I really haven't spent any more money on groceries than I was before, but my basement storage room is getting more and more full. I love to go down there and just look at my stash of food--it's such a comforting feeling. I think in six more months or so, we'll really be quite well set. And just think, I already have a years' supply of cake mix and a years' supply of pudding mix. That'll make my children very happy. Also, the menus from My Food Storage Deals have been wonderful! We have been eating so well, and it's all on sale. So far my favorites have included the Barbequed Chicken Salad, the Apple-Bacon-Chicken Salad, Barbequed Pork Sandwiches, Shredded Beef Burritos, and more.
We have a couple in our ward who are food storage gurus, and they sell mylar bags to hold water. Each bag holds 5 gallons of water (which you can just run from your tap). The bags even come with a spout so you can pour easily. They cost under $5 apiece. So for about $60, we can have a complete 2-week supply of water for our family.
I've also been working on our 72-hour kit this year. Our Relief Society gave us a handout with ideas of how to get a 72-hour kit in less than a year by focusing on certain items each month. February was water, March was getting a container to put it all in, April was clothing, May was tools and survival supplies, June was hygiene and toiletries, July is babies' and kids' items, August is personal information (copies of birth certificates, insurance, etc.) and money, September is food, and October is first aid. It has been so easy to do it this way! I can't believe that in a few short months, I will finally have my 72-hour kit--I already feel so much more prepared for an emergency, and that gives me peace.
The only problem I have now is that I don't know how I will ever be able to carry my kit if I should need to walk very far. We got a big duffel bag, and not only is the kit heavy, but it's just awkward because of the size and shape of it. I think I will have to look for a more manageable container. But this brings me to something I've been thinking of a lot lately--the realization that in an emergency, it will probably be me and kids surviving on our own for awhile. James works at a hospital, and even though he's in HR, in the event a major disaster happened, he would be called in to work for the duration. Actually, the likelihood is that he would be at work when something happened, and we simply wouldn't see him for a number of days. So the dilemma of how to carry this 72-hour kit and take care of two children, both with backpacks on their backs, and one of them being very little, is a concern for me.
This issue probably applies to many women. The woman who gave a preparedness class in our stake mentioned that her husband works 1.25 hours away from home. They have placed an emergency kit in his car, planning that if a disaster hit, he would probably have to walk home, and it would take several days--days he would need to be prepared for a long journey on foot, and she would need to be on her own with their children.
The most likely disasters in our area are earthquake and chemical leak. (We have a chemical weapons incinerator less than 20 miles south of us.) I think forest fire could also be a possibility, or a severe winter storm (which is the least scary of the above options).
Anyway, interesting things to think about! We had Family Home Evening last night and talked about the kit, what it was for and what was in it and how we would use those things. We even had Dallin help gather items from around the house to put in it. We also ended up getting into a ong discussion on fire safety, which culminated in Dallin saying his night time prayers: "Heavenly Father, thank you for our house to never get on fire." Fire is probably the disaster that scares me the most, due to having two house fires in our neighborhood when I was a little kids. I've always found fire to be scary and traumatic, and the idea of being awakened in the middle of the night by one is probably #1 on my list of things I hope to never experience.
First bit of news: Sariah is potty-training! And I had (almost) nothing to do with it! I cannot believe we're at this point--Dallin was 3 years old before we even started; Sariah is not even 2 yet. I was in no hurry, but she has made it blatantly obvious that she is ready to use the potty. For the past several months she has been letting is know when her diaper needs to be changed. She has also had a huge fascination with helping to care for her own hygiene and loves to wipe herself and to put on diaper ointment.
So a month or so ago, I got out the potty chair and sat it in the bathroom so she could start to get used to it. She loved to sit on it occasionally, and even once--by accident--went potty in it, but that was about it. Until this past Saturday. She came to me at one point and urgently exclaimed, "Potty!" For some reason, I had the thought to take her in and put her on the potty, which I did. She sat there for a few seconds, and then did her business. I was floored. She did this same thing four other times that day. In fact, James told me she had done it that morning while I was gone. Sunday was a repeat of Saturday. Monday was more of the same, and today she has continued to go potty in the toilet. She's had a few accidents and a few times when she hasn't told me and obviously hasn't felt the need to go in the potty. And she won't poop there. But by and large, she's using it. And it's all been her own doing.
I keep pinching myself, waiting for something to go wrong. Can it really be this easy? Also, I wasn't ready to start this. I have an insanely busy month this next month, and I wasn't taking on any projects during that time. But Sariah obviously has other ideas. So I guess I'm going along for the ride! I just hope this isn't a trick.
Food storage and emergency preparedness have been on my mind a lot lately. I hope that any of you who live in Utah have taken the time to check out the link in my sidebar to www.myfoodstoragedeals.com . It's fabulous! The site highlights the deals at the five major grocery stores in Utah and also tells you how much of each thing you need to have a years' supply. I really haven't spent any more money on groceries than I was before, but my basement storage room is getting more and more full. I love to go down there and just look at my stash of food--it's such a comforting feeling. I think in six more months or so, we'll really be quite well set. And just think, I already have a years' supply of cake mix and a years' supply of pudding mix. That'll make my children very happy. Also, the menus from My Food Storage Deals have been wonderful! We have been eating so well, and it's all on sale. So far my favorites have included the Barbequed Chicken Salad, the Apple-Bacon-Chicken Salad, Barbequed Pork Sandwiches, Shredded Beef Burritos, and more.
We have a couple in our ward who are food storage gurus, and they sell mylar bags to hold water. Each bag holds 5 gallons of water (which you can just run from your tap). The bags even come with a spout so you can pour easily. They cost under $5 apiece. So for about $60, we can have a complete 2-week supply of water for our family.
I've also been working on our 72-hour kit this year. Our Relief Society gave us a handout with ideas of how to get a 72-hour kit in less than a year by focusing on certain items each month. February was water, March was getting a container to put it all in, April was clothing, May was tools and survival supplies, June was hygiene and toiletries, July is babies' and kids' items, August is personal information (copies of birth certificates, insurance, etc.) and money, September is food, and October is first aid. It has been so easy to do it this way! I can't believe that in a few short months, I will finally have my 72-hour kit--I already feel so much more prepared for an emergency, and that gives me peace.
The only problem I have now is that I don't know how I will ever be able to carry my kit if I should need to walk very far. We got a big duffel bag, and not only is the kit heavy, but it's just awkward because of the size and shape of it. I think I will have to look for a more manageable container. But this brings me to something I've been thinking of a lot lately--the realization that in an emergency, it will probably be me and kids surviving on our own for awhile. James works at a hospital, and even though he's in HR, in the event a major disaster happened, he would be called in to work for the duration. Actually, the likelihood is that he would be at work when something happened, and we simply wouldn't see him for a number of days. So the dilemma of how to carry this 72-hour kit and take care of two children, both with backpacks on their backs, and one of them being very little, is a concern for me.
This issue probably applies to many women. The woman who gave a preparedness class in our stake mentioned that her husband works 1.25 hours away from home. They have placed an emergency kit in his car, planning that if a disaster hit, he would probably have to walk home, and it would take several days--days he would need to be prepared for a long journey on foot, and she would need to be on her own with their children.
The most likely disasters in our area are earthquake and chemical leak. (We have a chemical weapons incinerator less than 20 miles south of us.) I think forest fire could also be a possibility, or a severe winter storm (which is the least scary of the above options).
Anyway, interesting things to think about! We had Family Home Evening last night and talked about the kit, what it was for and what was in it and how we would use those things. We even had Dallin help gather items from around the house to put in it. We also ended up getting into a ong discussion on fire safety, which culminated in Dallin saying his night time prayers: "Heavenly Father, thank you for our house to never get on fire." Fire is probably the disaster that scares me the most, due to having two house fires in our neighborhood when I was a little kids. I've always found fire to be scary and traumatic, and the idea of being awakened in the middle of the night by one is probably #1 on my list of things I hope to never experience.
Comments
The lady who did our emergency preparedness class said she talked to the RS president in Wells, NV where they just had the earthquake. The RS president said that whether or not parents were prepared had a HUGE effect on how traumatized the children were after the experience. That was very motivating to me!