Children Prepared?

[lichfieldman]

I have a commitment to my children, my son aged 7yrs and my daughter aged 4yrs to provide skills and education in survival. Its hard enough trying to keep oneself focused as a prepper. I must say at this time that i feel i am privileged to own a shelter on private land that was prepped? by my father. I have experience in green and renewable energy. I feel fit and commited at 52years old, I hunt on a regular basis and give my children no illusion that meat comes from asda, but they know that. If you have children you know and your aware that they talk to other children and parents that i have always perceived as 'daydreamers'. My son as experience in potholing, Scuba Diving, Food for free, Shooting, Sling shot, Food prep, i allow my children to discuss our lifestyle at home..this is where my anxiety starts..I feel a threat!..I have prep for it..But i feel my children because of how i have educated them have become a target of ridicule and now they question me. I have never considered a forum on Prepping..to me it's hopfully a way of making connections with intelligent folk with foresight. Children are hard work at the best of times..but it's good to have them on your wavelength..how does anyone else cope?

[Roxy14]

Hi lichfield man, i am new to this site and very worried, i have just come to terms with doomsday and fear for my daughter of 2 years, since i have done no prepping im fearing for her life. any advice?

[tigs]

my kids are prepped all been camping , shooting and foraging from a very young age

[jansman]

My children are now grown up. During their younger years, I never rammed "education", or "prepping" down their throats. They saw Mum and me as parents who could deal with the problems that life chucks at any family. Dad always had a big garden and animals. Always fished and shot. Mum could sew and mend or make anything. Could always make a meal from nothing. Always seemed to have the wisdom of Solomon( still does!).
That is how my Daughters saw us. In fact, we did not, and still do not consider ourselves "preppers".It is a word/label I hate, but I won't dwell on that. We always stored grub, cash and various resources ad a matter of course. Being country people who never earned an awful lot, it is just what we did.
My youngest recently said that she regarded me as " the bloke who can fix stuff". Brilliant!
Both of them think ahead,are sensible and level. Mum and me have done a good job.

In short, just live life, enjoy life. Bring your kids up. Do not get hung up on " prepping", "training",etc. store for a rainy day, learn stuff, be both interested an interesting. Enjoy your time with your kids'cos believe me, they will be adults before you blink!

[BigF]

I know my littlies have taken some flack at school. While a lot of the kids are thinking fashion and video games my girls have their ponies and livestock to care for. 2 hours of poo picking on Saturday, that sort of thing. My boy is 7 and likes Nintendo and and Rugby but isn't fussed about our animals but will happily build dens in the hedges.

If I shoot all my kids want to come. If I want to try the local archery club of course at least one of them will want to tag along. My eldest daughter is pressing me to get her into a self defence class next term.

Being prepared isn't something I have shoved down their throat. It's just that I choose for them to live a more traditional life. That makes them practical and grounded nomatter how smart they are and how high they are aiming for the future.

When they are little they are desperate to be accepted, to conform and be the same as all the other kids in class even that gobby little Vegan.

They hit a certain age and want to be different and break away from the pack. Perhaps they will rebell against your beliefs but at least you have planted that seed of knowledge in them for their future.

[Maddosammo]

From the other side of this I've Learnt all I have from my father and my mum. And I has been invaluable knowledge that I am glad they taught me about. Yes you do get ridiculed about certain things for me it was mainly that I was smarter than the rest of the dumb (insert word here)and also knowing what to do if something happened.Being a city kid you do get looked weird for talking and acknowledging certain things such as prepping and I can be hard especially being a teenager and the peer pressure you can get and the feeling that you need to be like everyone else. To be honest non of that really affected me my group of friend is high School were open minded and we were all campers and enjoyed the outdoors it's actually different for me in college you would think that they would be more open minded to the idea of being prepared and vein yourself but In fact the are actually a little worse.
Sorry that turned into a little bit of a vent sometime do blurb on about random things. I apologise

Anyway I am glad my parents taught me about all the stuff which now is considered prepping. But was just common knowledge to have jut a few generations ago.


Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Sam

[itsybitsy]

Hi lichfield man, i am new to this site and very worried, i have just come to terms with doomsday and fear for my daughter of 2 years, since i have done no prepping im fearing for her life. any advice?

What do you mean when you say 'I've just come to terms with doomsday', please? What is your interpretation of 'doomsday'?

[maxilaura]

my daughter doesn't like me talking to her about prepping, she understands it, understands why I am doing it, but like a lot of people in the world, believes that prepping is for doomsday, and not ever day "poo" that life throws at you. My daughter is 10.

She does however love having the stores to go to upstairs when we run out of something in the kitchen, and not having to go to Sainsbug to get it. She also likes to know that she will have it available, even if she doesn't need it now - just a reasurrance thing.

Many times when I buy something new for the prepping store upstairs, she will say to me "its better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it".

So I'm happy with that.

[PreppingPingu]

My children are now grown up. During their younger years, I never rammed "education", or "prepping" down their throats. They saw Mum and me as parents who could deal with the problems that life chucks at any family. Dad always had a big garden and animals. Always fished and shot. Mum could sew and mend or make anything. Could always make a meal from nothing. Always seemed to have the wisdom of Solomon( still does!).
That is how my Daughters saw us. In fact, we did not, and still do not consider ourselves "preppers".It is a word/label I hate, but I won't dwell on that. We always stored grub, cash and various resources ad a matter of course. Being country people who never earned an awful lot, it is just what we did.
My youngest recently said that she regarded me as " the bloke who can fix stuff". Brilliant!
Both of them think ahead,are sensible and level. Mum and me have done a good job.

In short, just live life, enjoy life. Bring your kids up. Do not get hung up on " prepping", "training",etc. store for a rainy day, learn stuff, be both interested an interesting. Enjoy your time with your kids'cos believe me, they will be adults before you blink!

As always Jansman - words of wisdom

But yes Lichfieldman, as I parent of 2 teen girls myself, I totally understand not wanting them to feel ridiculed. While they to tease me a little, its a light hearted way and they know that all I am doing is being prepared on a daily basis - not "being a prepper" which conjures up all sorts of silly notions to the ill informed! My 11 year laughed when we had a power cut the other night as she knew we'd be fine, but was wondering when my neighbour would pop over and ask for candles and torches. In the 2 years I have lived here, she has only just got around to buying one torch *sigh* The point is, my 11 yr old knows that I have stuff and we'd cope for a few days/weeks in an emergency. Infact they both understand the wisdom of having a few extra bits about the place. We go camping and the like from time to time so the girls were amazed on guide camp and a school camping trip when a vast majority of thier friends didn't have a clue about life from even the most basic stuff like washing up! They are used to me pulling a screwdriver from my bag if something needs tighening up or fixing, so being practicle is second nature. As is making our a lot of our own food rather than buying pre-made food from the supermarket all the time. A general lifestyle interwoven with modern life.

Its all these little things that help. Leading by example rather than preaching. You'll find that your kids will grow up with an appriciation of the world around them and a bit more common sense than the average joe which will help in a crisis no matter how big or small, personal or global.

[Plantiejo]

PreppingPingu - Cooking your own meals is a great skill and a lovely one to share with children. These are skills they will then have for life and can share with others. Invaluable in times of shortages/troubles.