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Friday, February 20, 2009
How do you help calm kids rattled by severe weather?
One storm down, many more months to go…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Theresa is beginning to feel better. She will be back on the blog next week! Keith Still is filling in today.
For the first time in 2009 - and a little earlier in the year than usual - severe weather ripped through north Georgia, spawning thunderstorms and tornadoes, downing trees, and scaring the britches off of my children.
Over the years, we have tried to stress to our girls that their personal safety is the only thing they should worry about in emergency situations like tornadoes or a fire. We just want them to get to their safe spot - whether that is out of a burning house or in the basement away from all windows and doors.
If a tornado warning is issued for any part of metro Atlanta, however, the first thing they do is start packing their belongings. The entire family has packed less for a two-week vacation than our kids have packed for a potential tornado emergency. Whenever they start bringing down bags of stuffed animals, I remind them that “stuff” can be replaced and tell them we’re not taking all of that into the basement. If the threat isn’t imminent, I try to distract them with a game. If the weather turns severe overnight, we break out the sleeping bags and let them “camp” where it’s safe.
My kids didn’t pack anything on Wednesday evening, mainly because they didn’t hear any warnings until the storm cell was almost upon us. I noticed the wind picking up, turned on the TV and saw we were in the immediate path. I told the girls to go on to the basement. They had enough time to grab our new puppy. The power went off as we descended the stairwell, and the unexpected darkness frightened them. My five-year-old cried the entire time, shaking with panic that the house was going to be destroyed, that Daddy wasn’t home and that all of her stuffed animals could be gone in an instant.
Throughout our short 10-15 minute basement exile, I could tell how nervous even the older kids were. I spoke calmly, reminded them they’re exactly where they should be in a situation like this and told them that we would all be fine.
Within minutes, the sky was clearing, and we went back upstairs. We were fortunate. The wind blew a couple of small limbs down in our yard, and we lost power for about half an hour.
With the first storm of the year behind them, my kids just wanted the power to stay off long enough for us to dine by candlelight. (Even though the lights were back on by supper, we still lit the eight candles they had put on the dinner table.) Now, we just have to get through March, April, May, June….
How well do your children handle severe storms? What do you do to help them cope? How do you make them appreciate that their safety is really the only important thing in emergency situations? Do you practice emergency escape drills or tornado drills to better prepare your family for the real thing?
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