Hurricane Preparedness… and a Rainbow Afro Wig

By Guest Blogger Michelle Spell

While Summer is typically a season of fun day trips and lazy weekends, we have also come to regard it as hurricane prep season in our home. From Super Storm Sandie in New Jersey to Hurricane Irma in Florida, we’ve had our fair share of hurricanes!

One hurricane that stands out in our family is Hurricane Irene in 2010. We lived in New Jersey at the time and my children were ages 3, 4, 5 and 9. Considering New Jersey didn’t get frequent hurricanes, we decided it would be a good opportunity to teach the kids about prepping for a natural disaster and potential power outages.

Hurricane Irene was called the ‘100 Year Storm’ because of its’ high winds and size as well as its unstoppable course towards New Jersey. Stores were jammed packed with hurried shoppers and gas stations were quickly closing due to empty tanks. There was clearly a frenzy among the residents. While we did not want the kids to panic, we certainly wanted them to think about what they would consider an essential item and why.

Each of the kids took the time and thought through what they would want in a natural disaster. Then, off to the stores they went with their lists! Upon their return each of the kids told us what they considered was essential and why. Isaiah chose flashlights, Aidan chose water, and Hunter chose batteries. Then along comes Ava, so proud of her essential item… a Rainbow Afro Wig.

She wore that wig the entire time! Her reasoning behind why it was essential was “we would not have anything else to laugh about because hurricanes were sad”! True story!!!

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