The Mom Chronicles: When the thunder rolls
When asked what first comes to mind when someone mentions the summertime how do you respond? Fun in the sun? The beach? Family vacations? Well for this mom, who grew up in the country regularly watching the Wizard of Oz something different comes to mind: thunderstorms. Specifically tornadoes. And as summer is well underway we find ourselves amid the stormiest month here in Minnesota, June. We were well reminded of both of those things last week as we watched, and continue to see, coverage of storms and tornadoes that damaged parts of the state. And these events got me to thinking. What am I doing to keep my kids safe and calm when such storms threaten my doorstep and what am I teaching them in my preparations?
Unfortunately, all those Wizard of Oz episodes have made me a bit storm phobic and I admit, regrettably, that I passed those same fears on to my kids. And that brings me here. While the big storms never came here, the Peterson household got awefully stormy that night just because of everyone being so scared and worked up of something bad happening. And surely, there are better ways to handle storms then I did. And while I did a couple good things the general take away of the evening in my house was not positive in nature. That said, with a potentially stormy week ahead of us again, I wanted to step back and look at how to best help myself and kids through another stormy night, and perhaps help your families, too. Face it. To kids (and big people, too) storms can be scary. They are loud, unpredictable and dangerous. We often don’t know or understand enough what is going on and it is easier to focus on these fears then to focus on how to stay calm. And the fact of the matter is we don’t spend enough time thinking of what to do in those situations ahead of time. We often find ourselves rushing around at the time of a storm and that keeps our blood and adrenaline pumping and offers no real help in establishing a calm and safe environment.
My quest of storm preparedness lead me mostly online where I was able, though the help of several websites, to find some great suggestions on how to keep you and your family safe and calm during a storm. The first suggestion was to understand what is happening. Go to the library and check out books on weather to help your kids have a better understanding of what is going on and refer to those things when the storm actually comes saying things like remember we read about how lightening is just this or that and make a little science lesson out of it. Remember those things we don’t understand tend to be more scary then the things we do.
Next, be prepared. Have a plan and practice it with your family. Be sure to have things like flashlights, blankets, extra batteries, water, any medications, etc stocked and accessable to your family’s safe area ahead of time. Be sure your kids know where these things are as well. That way you can give them tasks during or before a storm to make them feel a greater sense of control. Allow them to pick out the snacks they want with and pack them up for everyone or to help test the flashlights periodically. Having a sense of control also helps with calm. Storms can feel very unpredictable and uncontrollable. Doing tasks to feel prepared and like you have a part can make a big difference, especially to kids.
And finally, find your calm, and help your kids find theirs. Step back. Take a deep breath. If having the news channel on with constant updates is too stressful, perhaps get a weather radio that will just alert you when the storm is close to your area, or tune in every half an hour for updates so you aren’t worried for hours in advance. Make games out of the storm. Do things like count with your kids the amount of time between a flash of lightening and clash of thunder and divide it by five. That will tell you the distance from the storm you are. Consider going to the basement ahead of time if you have a nice basement to go to. That way you are all somewhat shielded from the visuals of the storm before it starts to avoid the last minute panic of having to hurry there. Use things like headphones or turn up the stereo and have a dance party to drown out the noise. Consider putting your kids to sleep with rain or thunderstorm CD’s at night so they get used to it and aren’t kept awake on rainy, stormy nights by sounds that are usually considered scary. If they learn to be calmed and relaxed by them, they won’t be so scary. In addition have special games, toys, etc reserved for use just in the special safe place. This will create fun distractions and make the place less scary. And finally, if the electricity goes out turn it in to a campout. Set up a “tent” and use the flashlights as if you are camping out. This is something that may be familiar to the kids if it is a favorite past time of your family and something else to associate with good feelings.
Ultimately, while you can’t change whether or not a storm is going to land on your doorstep, you can be prepared for it and help you and your kids find a sense of calm in it. There will always be some sense of scary and unknown, but I am learning it can be drastically lessened just by a few small things.
Additionally, avoiding news coverage after storms of destruction or scary weather movies like the Wizard of Oz can always help as well. I still can’t hear a wind chime at the start of a storm with out thinking of the movie Twister.
That said, while we can’t fully eliminate the scary out of a storm, the next time the thunder rolls at your house, perhaps it won’t be as scary as an adventure. Perhaps it could even be fun.
Have a great week!
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