Be Prepared

In today’s world anything can happen and most likely will, especially if you have children. That is why it is so important to be a prepared parent.

My sister shared a great story about the value of being a prepared parent. She and my younger sister went to the scrapbook store with her four month old son. They were just
going for a few minutes and the store was only five minutes away so she left her diaper bag at home. While they were in the store my younger sister, who was holding the baby, felt something wet on her leg. When she looked down she found that my nephew had pooped
and it had leaked out his diaper and down her leg. Of course the store didn’t have a
restroom and my sister had left the diaper bag at home. So they took off my nephew’s
outfit and used it to wipe up most of the poop and hurried home. From that day forward she always took her diaper bag with her, even if she was only going to be gone for a few minutes.

For the first year of my child’s life I always carried a spare change of clothes as well as plenty of diapers and wipes. Between my three kids I only needed the spare clothes a few times, but every time I did I was so grateful that I had been prepared.

Be a prepared parent for the inevitable illnesses that befall young children. It seems like my children always wake up sick in the middle of the night. I am always grateful when I have Tylenol or cough syrup in my cupboard and don’t have to go and get some. I also learned early on to give my babies Tylenol before they got their shots so the medicine was already in their system and working. Growing up my mother always kept a can of 7-up and chicken noodle soup in the cupboard. That way when one of us got the stomach flu she was already prepared.

Of course there are certain things that cannot be planned, accidents do happen. But you can have a plan in place. I have a list of phone numbers of neighbors and friends that I can call in an emergency. Like the time I broke my foot when my husband was out of town. I resorted to my plan, calling friends to watch my three kids and take me to the hospital. You should also have a plan in place for other larger emergencies like fire or home evacuation.

You can’t always plan for everything but you can do your best to be prepared. Being a prepared parent helps eliminate stress and makes things run smoother.