I've got 2 under 5s, and just in case anyone reading this is worried about them, I definitely don't raise my kids in a fearful, 'doom in upon us' sort of household. However preparedness is seen as a generally positive attribute here, and my eldest knows we rarely run out of things as mum and dad usually have some in stock, and has helped me with gardening, saving seeds, making jam etc. She also knows mum and dad both have an 'emergency bag' under the bed just in case we ever need to leave the house and don't have lots of time to pack, as she's seen them under there and asked about them. So today, and I think she was partly inspired by the hurricane episode of Daniel Tiger's Neighbourhood, she's made herself an emergency box! In a large lunchbox she's packed away a packet of biscuits, a little spade, a wooden toy knife, a torch, a book, some little toys and a pot of water. She's stashed it under her chalkboard, and the cutest thing is that she's put her little wooden doctors kit on top, I guess in case she needs to administer first aid
For anyone with young kids, that episode of Daniel Tiger's Neighbourhood is great for helping kids to understand a little about planning and prepping. Each episode has a song and this one is 'Hold a grown-ups hand, follow the plan and you'll be safe', and they've got a little checklist showing the things they need to prepare for the hurricane. I do find it a little odd that the characters that live in a tree go and stay with Daniel's family in their straw beach house when they'd probably all have been better off going to the castle... but all's well that ends well!