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Houston 6-Pack–at 15:26
Enough Already
Why do you think your appetite changed? Was it the stress of the situation?
You have made me a FIRM believer in the kits!!! I have done sooooo many for my family. I am finally at the point in my prepping that I shop just mainly on sale items only…..I have never been to Big Lots we just got one about a year ago and I still havent gone….Target, Kroger and Wal-mart are so much closer….What is in Big Lots?
Bronco Bill-
couldn’t you have changed the name to get rid of the implication that only mom’s will be concerned about how their children respond to crisis?
Big Lots is a discount store. They get all kinds of stuff from stores that have to clear out merchandise for whatever reason. For example, I’ve seen a vacuum that retails for over $500, sell there for $80. Typically, stuff moves rapidly, so get it when you see it if you really want it. They don’t always have the same stuff… which is why I hit different stores.
The heat is why I think our appetites were dull. The kids thought they were on the vacation of their lives. So, that had to be the major factor for them. We adults were certain we were in a living hell. All adults were stressed, which started when we realized we were trapped with a bunch of people who were unprepared on every level. Being stuck in cat 2 winds from 4 am until dark… wind howling like an evil ghoul… was certainly nerve racking. Complaining people, who were unappreciative and expecting “somebody” to take care of them compounded the problem. Because we were prepared, and prepared to help others (including clear paths for emergency personel to get to heart attack and seizure patients) helped… but still was stressful. not as stressful as “not” being able to help these people. I never want to be stuck anywhere with that many unprepared people again in an emergency… and this was a fishing camp with around 200 people in a “remote” state park.
Another thing I think I have never mentioned that helped was those popsicles in tubes, liquid if not frozen. They come in a big box full of popsicles for about $1. The kids drank the heck out of those.
The empty shelves thread has some good websites for purchasing online. Includes more choices of dehydrated foods and other stuff worth looking at. FWIW
Enough AlreadyHouston 6-Pack?
I saw that thread and jotted down the sites~~Thanxs!!
I had no idea how good Big Lots sounds like it is. I will stop by there tomorrow and check it out.
Also, what do you recommend in your kits for dinners….did you prepp any for dinners….also, for little ones 13 months and 3 years. I’m trying to help someone for her little ones with some ideas on these kits….and dont know exactly what she might need. I have ideas for breakfast and lunch and snacks….but dinner I’m not quite sure. I havent done any kits for dinner for my family yet….any ideas?
That is a great idea about the popsicles in tubes. I think you can get those at Wal-Mart too….a huge box. You know I was buying the huge bottles of apple juice until I looked and saw that it had to be regrigerated soon after opening….if I had bought a smaller one it would of been fine with me having 4 kids….they would of used it all during breakfast and lunch….possibly for dinner and would of been great. But unfortunatley its a 2 gallon bottle….I think I’m going to split it up into 2 containers instead of having one then freeze them. I really think at this point in my preps the single juice packets are the best…like capri suns, etc. you can drink them at room temp and they dont have to be refrigerated….easier for me….
I will let you know what I picked up at Big Lots tomorrow. I was going to go out tonight but got busy talking with neighbors outside then realized it was getting to late…..Big Lots here I come:)…..thanx!!
How is everyone doing with all the news lately….Middle East as well as BF?
Also, I was wondering about is…How many of you are telling your small children 3 and up about bird flu and your preps? Any unique ways to do that?
My approach to telling my kids (7–13) has been to answer their questions as they come and not to lie to them. There is no way that I know of to effectively hide much of anything in your home from them. They see and hear most everything, surely more than we’d like them to:-). At least by being open and honest about it you have the opportunity to make sure that they aren’t worrying needlessly about half truths. If it works for sex and drugs, it’ll work for BF too.
EnoughAlready – at 15:13
Car broke down recently, so I can’t try all your suggestions, but they are very good. My daughter drives me once a week to get groceries. We share coupons from the Sunday paper and both only shop the sales. Yesterday my granddaughter and I walked a couple of miles to our local WalMart. It’s not the “super” kind, just has about 3 aisles of food. Had to put back an 11-cent ramen “prep” package…just not enough money this week for anything but immediate needs. The exercise was good.
Things should get a little better financially in 2007; just hope things don’t get worse BF-wise (for any of us) before then. Big Lots is something to look forward to.
The kits sound like a great idea.
anonymous – at 17:50 --- No. Start a competing thread Only for Dads. This thread was started with something else in mind other than your complaint that you were somehow left out. Deal with it.
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I have young kids so they just thoughtI was stocking up on everything. They loved it. However, when I started putting food into rubbermaid containers they were a bit baffled….so i just explained to them that I was buying lots of groceries because its hurricane season and we discussed what happened last year and they were really happy that i was being soooo prepared. I loved the exciteent that they had….so unlike the world outside.
I am so suprised everytime I go out to prep the amount of people who are not!! My very biggest frustration is that NOONE and I mean NOONE will have anything to do with me when I bring this up. I have a very very dear friend of 17 years that I have discussed this with and I even went as far as to send her the Flu Wikie…..see obviously discussed this with her husband and NOW she will change the subject if I bring it up which I dont. Today she did make an effort to tell me the on the front page of the newspaper it said something like……Bird Flu isnt going to be what they thought…..I guess to let me know that she was right…..and I was a fool to even think of prepping for it. REally bugs me.
I have read over this ‘only for moms’ site….I’m glad that now I have a place to come when I need another moms advice on kids stuff. If this has been discussed before please direct me to the place…..but I was wondering when we will know when to pull our kids out of school….I mean mine are pretty young…..and we all know the GERM ISSUES with little ones…..I dont know when we will know its hear or not….for sure….can anyone enlight me on when they will be pulling their little ones out…..I also have the concern of taking out and it was a false alarm…..then it will alarm my little ones….only to do it again….and what if another false alarm……I dont want to put my kiddos through an unessary emotional roller coaster if I can help it…..what will be the pull out for most parents with youngans here…..all advice is welcomed…..I am really worried about the fall and winter season coming around …..very quickly around the corner…..thank you…
Also, when can we start getting flu shots for our kids? anyone know off the top of thier head?
Preppin Grl — re taking the kids out of school. If they’re really little, maybe you dont have to tell them why??? Explain it as a mini-home-vacation…. I have a little one too who will be in PreK.
Preppin Grl,
Flu shots aren’t typically available until September or October.
Preppin Grl:
THat problem of when to take the kids out of school perplexes me too. It seems like a big logistical challenge, if you are trying to get them out way before anything happens. If that is your plan, i think you’d be better off just home schooling to begin with. But, if you aren’t interested in homeschooling (I’m not! AT least not this year) then it’s just something you’ll have to deal with on a day by day basis.
I did take my son out last year from preschool 2 weeks before CHristmas, just because he was getting sick every week, and passing it on to the baby, and I wanted us all to be healthy for our vacation. Just doing that was really really hard. Once kids go to school they have their own little social world — they are eager to be at school, to see the hampster have babies or whatever, to have the birthday parties, field trips, and everything else that is a part of school life. It is really hard to just pull them from all that and put them back in as if nothing had happened, and then do it again. (And I can only imagine it would be hared as your kids get older.)
SO sorry, I don’t have a good answer for that except I’m also interested to hear other’s ideas!
Funny about your friends, I too have heard very little back from friends I’ve talked to about the possibility of a pandemic — I haven’t pushed it hard or anything, and for the most part they are kind of receptive. But TWO friends emailed me regarding the bird flu vaccine news, and asked me what I thought about that. (My husband also saw it and emailed me from work.)
What I tell myself is, let’s just hope that I end up looking and feeling like a fool. It would be so great for just nothing at all to happen, and certainly not for at least 3 years or more. I can live with looking like a fool. I’d rather not have to live with being “right” if right means what it could mean. Ya know what I mean?
(-:
ACM,
Every scientist I know on the flu beat wants to be wrong, too.
My kids are at the age where they will look at it like, YES!!!!!! That is until they realize that now their in MY WORLD!!!!!! lololol SIP will be ‘fun’ for about 2 days and then……it will be Mom, can soandso come over…..and if their families arent SIP my kids are going to really question that one…..They know that I’m prepping and about SIP….I dont think the really have a clue what that really means…..
I pray all the time that this thing doesnt hit us!!!!
EnoughAlready – at 18:12
Wow. Thanks for the great idea. I’m going to add a few cases of those freeze pops to our preps. You are right, even unfrozen they would be a treat or a little boost of sugar that the kids … and adults … might appreciate.
Houston6Pak – at 01:31
My older two know what I’m doing and why. My 13 year old son is more understanding/supportive of it than my usually sensible 16 year old daughter. She is tolerant but not exactly supportive. For her it is more of a “if I ignore it, it will not happen” kind of thing … she is just getting into being very social and approaching the time she would go away to college. She doesn’t want anything impeding her life as she sees it coming down the pike. <wry grin> Like most kids her age.
For the 7 and 10 year old it is “hurricane/emergency preps” without the knowledge of bird flu. My 7 year old wouldn’t get it and the 10 year old would over stress after she finally did get it. Trying to explain it to the 2 year old is out of the question. <grin>
Preppin Grl – at 01:08
Just get your ducks in a row as far as knowing what your legal rights are and actually how to remove your kids from school … not just transfer them from one school to another. Learn about the homeschool laws of your state and make sure that you can meet the requirements.
Mostly be prepared for the school system to be behind schedule with decision making. I can’t tell you when … we already homeschool so that isn’t an issue for our family … but I would certainly begin the process when a panflu hits the shores of your country and possible complete the process when it hits your state … which means you may have to move quickly from one level to the next.
Would anyone like to offer some easy reciepts for a very very picky eater? Or ideas on how I can get him to try different foods. He is 13.
Houston - wish I knew. All of mine are picky, some worse than others, but they are younger. I am very worried about what they’ll eat if SIP and we run out of their favorite things. I’ve tried intorducing some prep foods/recipes to get them used to eat but they won’t touch teh stuff. They don’t realize tuna will be their best friend. I guess I just have to hope that they’ll get hungry enough and eat. I can only fill my freezer with so many chicken fingers. Wait until they try powdered milk!
My youngest brother (now adult) is an extremely picky eater, and it has had a big effect on him emotionally and socially. I did some research for him a while ago. This is a very useful web site you might like to look at for some context. Ideas that help the very seriously adult picky eater might be adapted for children.
http://www.pickyeatingadults.com/page4.html
Basically I think there is a continuum for picky eaters — there’s the normal, not willing to try new foods of the toddler ages, and there’s kids who are sensitive-to-different-textures, and a lot of that can be helped by gradually introducing the new foods or tastes or textures. Then, there’s the more severe kind, where kids or adults get so acared of being forced to try something that is truly unappetizing to them (because they are supersensitive or whatever) that they gag. I think with older kids, you might have to talk about this, and get them to buy into the idea of expanding their horizons.
My son is a pretty picky eater. What we’re working on is slowly expanding the range of what he will eat. A few ideas:
1) It always helps to be hungry when you try new foods. Offer new foods after a hike or soemthing.
2) Don’t let kids fill up on easy to eat high carb snacks (like Goldfisg crackers) or juices and milks, if you want them to eat new foods.
3) Ask picky eater to at least lick a new food, even better would be to put it in mouth and chew it — if they know they can discretely spit it out (without saying “yuck”) they might be more relaxed about trying it.
4) Gradually mix food they like with food that is new; pay attention to both taste and texture. EG. If they will eat one brand of mac n cheese, but not another, try mixing the two to get them accustomed to the texture and taste of the other. or, mix whole and powdered milk at first.
5) Alter the taste and texture of foods you want them to eat (like if they won’t eat powdeered scrambled eggs, try adding some fresh milk and cheese at first.)
My boy still won’t touch tuna, but I have a plan. We’ll take a long hike, I’ll “forget” to bring lunch, will just have an apple in the sack. We’ll drive home and I’ll have waiting a delicious noodle casserole, moist and ready in the corckpot — mostly rotini noodles, and a cheese sauce, but with delicious little nuggets of “chicken” in it — which will really be tuna. I won’t tell him it is tuna though until after he tells me it is delicious! (_:
Good luck! Pandemic or no, it is worth it to help picky eaters expand their horizons!
LauraB,
Your comments made me smile:).
Sounds like your little one is like mine…his diet constist of chicken fingers, grilled cheese, french fries, BPJ, Oatmeal…..and not much more. We can do the waffles and pancakes, cereals…but not much more. I too have bought the powdered milk…..that should be very interesting. I have been trying to get him to try other things and have told him that he’s got to start trying because of this BF thing…..he just looks at me like, yeah right!! I wont even attempt tuna with him….I think he’d throw up:)!!!!
I am hoping that I have bought enough for him to eat ONLY. I continue to stock up for just him….everyone else eats normally in our family. But he is going to have to realize that during a situation like BF…SIP….you might not have any other choice but to eat what is available….I am hoping that if he’s hungary enough he will try other things….although I’m also hoping that we never have to find out….
Average Concerned MOm
You always have the best ideas and are so informative!!! I loved the site that you for offering it. I’m sure it will help so many other moms going through the same thing. I will take your advice in everything. I did do something the other night that our whole family got a kick out of…..We went out to eat to a seafood resturant…..of course, with it being a seafood restaurant they didnt have any chicken nuggets on the childrens menu…..however they did have popcorn shrimp…..he loves popcorn chicken….at KFC and Sonic….so we didnt show him the menu and got him that for dinner……He ate every bite and LOVED IT!!!!! We were shocked, but were so glad he loved it!!! Did the same thing with fried alligator…..we told him it was chicken fingers….he loved that to. You would think both of these items would totally NOT taste like chicken nuggets…..at any rate….He’s not the most trusting little guy now:)….He does ask when I order for him now, “Mom, is it really going to be chicken nuggets?”…..I’m proud of him though….he ate 3 things I thought he would never do:)….
I do think that if the picky eaters are hungary enough that they will eat what is available. I too hope they will never be in that situation…..NO fun thats for sure!!!:(
While prepping for little ones, I always try to buy things with the most far out expiration date- But, if somethings are packed better than others, they should last longer than the expiration date suggests?
For example, I have found that the Goldfish Crakcers come in what look like mylar bags— Do you all think they last longer (stay fresher) because they are packed that way? The Goldfish I bought had an expiration date at least 18 months out— much easier to rotate it that way, then say the cheerios cereal w/ expiration dates only 3–4 months out and packed in that flimsy plastic.
Has anyone found other food items or snacks that seem to be really well packed to last longer in the pantry that little ones will probably enjoy?
H6P: You made your kid eat Alligator?!?!?!?!? (-: Wow, that’s hard-core!
That’s great — every little bit counts. Good for you!
Eastern Shore Prepper – at 11:21
Some of it is a matter of packaging. But also, the ingredients in the item play a role in how long it will stay “fresh.” For example, goldfish are highly processed … cheerios still manage to have the whole grains or a close facimile. <grin>
For example, corn pops and sugar smacks are also packaged in those “metal/mylar” looking bags. But they don’t stay fresher necessarily longer … they get sticky after awhile becauce of the sugar coating. But they wouldn’t stay fresh even that long if they were just in the plastic bags.
So, both packaging and the item being packaged plays a role in how long something will stay “fresh.”
I saw this a long time ago. Besides growing elderberries how do we raise alligators? Just kidding. Alligators can be hazardous to your health.
Antiviral activity of serum from the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis).
Serum from wild alligators was collected and tested for antibiotic activity against three enveloped viruses using cell-based assays. Alligator serum demonstrated antiviral activities against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1; IC50=0.9%), West Nile virus (WNV; IC50=4.3%), and Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1; IC50=3.4%)…. PMID: 15781130
Inflluenza is a an enveloped virus.
Bronco Bill – at 02:21
~snicker~ competing thread… Dad’s Only!! Okay, that just really made me chuckle!
fredness… if your info is right, those of us in southern swamps are sittin’ on a gold mine!!
about those picky eaters… okay, I don’t really have time to address it now. Just got back from vacation with 2 grandkids… a week of picky eating. (And… our we there yet… every 2 seconds.) Having raised 5 kids, having 9 gkids plus 3 spares… and having this degree in nutrition… I would really like to talk a bit about picky eating… especially in sickness and/or emergency situations. Unfortunately, I have to be at an open house in 30 minutes… and I still need to get ready. I do have time to say this: When people (even picky people) get hungry, “normal” changes. I’d seriously consider that in the kind of prepping we are doing. Also, it is normal for kids to be picky… and picky at specific ages. Even age appropriate “food habits.”
ALSO… I wish we could discuss more on economical prep ideas. I hate to sound like a broken record… I am prepping for my kids because they just can’t afford to. It breaks my heart to know there our families, people out there that don’t have somebody who can help them. I am thankful I can help my children and their families… trust me… they ain’t gettin’ fancy preps!! All the same, I have read too many times that people can’t do much because of various reasons: live in apartments, don’t have space, don’t have resources, etc. I’d love to see us brainstorm this and hopefully come up with some alternatives!
errrrr… our… would be: “Are” we there yet.
I have been getting the kidos ready for school so I havent been online much lately…..
Average concerned Mom…..
Well, we were vacationing in florida and they didnt have the usual chicken nuggets or strips for kids at this one resturant…..on their kid menu it was fried fish or alligator….at the time we didnt know he liked the fried shrimp…..so we tried the alligator….we knew that didnt have a fish taste and we could probably get away with saying it was chiccken…LOLOL We were with all of his cousins who knew how picky he was ……after he ate it all and said it was the best chicken nuggets he ever had everyone died laughing and told him what he ate…….he didnt think that was too funny though:)……He did said he would eat it again though to our suprise:) I gotta go run more errand we have relative coming into town next week and trying to get everything ready for them and school…..I would love to read Enough Already’s comment, but I know I will want to comment:) she always has the best ideas like so many others….so I will wait until later tonight.
Enough Already
Makes you wanna go, hmmmmmmm?
One thing that I am trying to do is to only buy what I know for a fact they will eat….now, remember that one of mine is the picky eater so I am very careful what I buy for him and I have bought tons! I’m not sure if it was you that gave me the great idea with the kits…sometimes I get you mixed up with Average Concerned Mom, but anyway these kits are great and you can really keep the cost down if you do them. I find by doing the kits I actually get more for my money. I am also telling my ‘picky eater’ NOW that he is going to start trying new foods….then I fill him in on BF or ANY other crisis that might happen and if for some reason I run out of his food he will have no choice but to eat what we eat…which wont be fun at that time, trying it for the first time and all….so it is smarter to start trying things now as opposed to when a crisis hits. He agreed but we havent started doing this yet. I told him once school starts that when he will start. I could see the look of dread in his eyes:)~~
I have found that buying from Sams in bulk form has helped in my overall cost when shopping for my picky eater or the whole family. Bulk is better and you can find sooo much at Sams for kids….break them down into kits and your set…You can do breakfast and lunch kits…..but of course the snack kits have been the most fun for me….I’m such a snacker….havent attempted the dinner kits yet….I need help with that one…
But lets keep this conversation going with brainstorming ideas on economical was to prepare for this….Enough Already is right….there are many people that are prepping for many family members and some that arent family and need help on how to do this the most economical way possible…..
All ideas are welcomed….
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