It has been a really long time since I posted. I’ve been working on many new writing ideas such as a prequel novella for my Élan series, and the outlines for a couple of new series ideas. But what I want to talk about today is prepping kids for thunderstorms, and life.
Sometimes I don’t feel like anything I have to say is of importance, then I look at what’s going on around me with my children and I realize I do have something valuable to share. And right now it’s what I see my daughter learning from me as we prepare for hurricane season in Florida.
Florida, the lightning capital
We had a terrible thunderstorm a few nights ago. It was so bad we unplugged all the electronics and me and my children sat in the hall of our house. It didn’t bother my husband that all; he was asleep.
During the thirty minutes it took for the thunderstorm to pass over us, I was able to teach my teenage daughter two new lessons about severe weather safety. She already knew that in the case of close-proximity lightning, you unplugged all electronics that you don’t want to get fried. And I’d already taught her the lesson of getting in the hall to avoid any flying debris in case lightning struck nearby trees. Plus, it just makes you feel safer when you don’t see the streaks of lightning turning the pitch darkness of 10 PM into midday.
That night’s lessons dealt with the toilet and the refrigerator. Many people may know that if the electricity goes out you keep the refrigerator and freezer shut so the cold air can stay inside and the food in there won’t go bad. Few people, however, know that you shouldn’t flush the toilet if the lights are out. Our water comes from a well, and when the lights go out, our pump goes off. So this night, when the girls had to use the bathroom, I had to remind them to not flush the toilet. Yeah, it was gross, but I would rather them understand the need to conserve water than to have an issue with our septic system once the lights came back on.
These were just two small learning opportunities for my fifteen-year-old daughter, but every day I see how the small life lessons are helping her grow into a capable young woman. So when she’s faced with the larger lessons maybe she’ll come out of the storm unscathed.