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FROM THE DESK
My friend asked me last week why I have so many cans in the basement. I told her it's like keeping a spare tire in the car. We don't expect a flat, but if we get one, we don't have to wait on the side of the road.
Here's what I've got this week.
THE BRIEF
Teaching Preparedness Without Teaching Fear
One of the most common questions I get is: how do I talk to my kids about this without scaring them? The answer is simpler than you'd expect. Frame it as capability, not catastrophe.
Kids already understand the concept of being ready. They practice fire drills at school. They wear seatbelts. They know to call 911. Preparedness is just an extension of those ideas into the home. The key is language. You're not "preparing for disasters." You're "learning to handle things when they don't go as planned."
Age-appropriate skills start earlier than most parents realize. A five-year-old can learn their home address and a parent's phone number. A seven-year-old can use a flashlight, know where the emergency supplies are, and help fill water containers. A ten-year-old can learn basic first aid, help pack a go-bag, and understand a family communication plan. A teenager can manage all of these independently.
The most effective teaching method is involvement, not lectures. Let kids pack their own section of the family emergency kit. Let them choose their own flashlight. Teach them to cook a simple meal on a camp stove. When they're part of the process, they feel capable instead of scared. Capability is the antidote to anxiety.
Family meetings work better than one-off conversations. Once a season, sit down for 15 minutes and go over your plan. Where do we go if we need to leave? Who do we call? Where do we meet if we get separated? Keep it matter-of-fact. No dramatic scenarios. Just questions and answers.
Practice matters more than perfection. A family that's done one fire drill and walked through their meeting point once is dramatically more prepared than one that's never discussed it. Kids remember what they've done, not what they've been told.
One thing to avoid: don't use preparedness as a response to scary news. If a hurricane is on TV and your child is worried, that's a comfort moment, not a teaching moment. Teach when things are calm. Comfort when things are scary.
ONE THING THIS WEEK
Ask your kids if they know your phone number.
ON THE RADAR
Food bank visits in Oregon jumped 51% in just two years, hitting a record 2.9 million last year. 1 in 7 Oregonians now face food insecurity — driven by rising costs and what the Oregon Food Bank calls the largest federal SNAP cuts in history. When food systems buckle at this scale, personal food security matters more than ever. (Oregon Food Bank, 2026 State of Hunger Report)
LESSON FROM: MYKEL HAWKE
Mykel Hawke, former Green Beret captain, hosted Man, Woman, Wild with his wife Ruth, which is one of the few survival shows that approached preparedness from a family perspective. In Family Survival Guide, he writes that the single biggest mistake families make is excluding children from the planning process. Kids who are included feel empowered. Kids who are sheltered feel anxious when something actually happens.
Hawke's approach is to assign age-appropriate roles. Even the youngest child can be the "flashlight person" or the "pet helper." Giving them a specific job during a drill or a real event channels nervous energy into useful action. It also means they know what's expected instead of standing in the middle of chaos wondering what to do.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
The FBI and CISA issued a joint advisory on April 8 warning that Iran-linked hackers are actively disrupting U.S. water treatment plants and power facilities — targeting the programmable logic controllers that run both. Confirmed disruptions have already occurred, and NERC is actively monitoring the grid. This is a useful reminder that water and power outages don't require a storm. A 72-hour water supply and a power outage kit matter whether the cause is weather or a cyberattack. (Utility Dive / Energy Central, April 2026)
WHAT WE’Re TESTING
We've been testing the AMK Ultralight/Watertight .5 as a compact first aid kit for go-bags and day packs. It's fully waterproof, well-organized, and small enough to forget it's there until you need it. At about $32, it's one of the better ready-to-use kits at this size — a solid pick if you want something done without building from scratch.
OVERRATED / UNDERRATED
Overrated: "Kid-specific" emergency kits from survival companies. They're usually overpriced repackaged versions of basic supplies with cartoon branding. Build one together with your child instead. The process teaches more than the product.
Underrated: Camping with kids. It's the single best preparedness training for families. They learn to sleep outside their comfort zone, cook without a kitchen, manage without screens, and handle minor discomfort. And they think it's fun.
What makes it good for kids: it's small enough for their hands, visual enough to learn from, and the included guide uses simple language. My daughter can now clean and bandage a cut by herself. That's a skill she'll keep forever. About $32.
Budget alternative: Build your own from a zip-lock bag ($5 total). Band-aids, antiseptic wipes, gauze, tape, and a Sharpie to write "FIRST AID" on the bag. Function over form.
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THE LINK DUMP
Ready.gov: Kids — Age-appropriate preparedness resources and activities from FEMA.
Red Cross: Pillowcase Project — Free program teaching kids to build emergency kits from a pillowcase.
ThePrepared.com: Family Preparedness — Practical guide to including the whole household in planning.
Grokipedia: Emergency Preparedness — Background for older kids who want to understand the concepts.
Stomp Out Disasters (FEMA Game) — Free online game that teaches disaster response. Actually decent.
NEXT ISSUE
Home fire prevention and escape. The most common household emergency is the one most people think they're prepared for and usually aren't.
PS: If your kids start checking the go-bag batteries every month without being asked, they’re on the right track.