Be Prepared

I was a Girl Guide as a child (Canada's answer to Girl Scouts), and although I didn't really enjoy being a Girl Guide (I was a very shy child and hated to be a part of big groups like that), I took their motto of "Be Prepared" to heart. Mostly because I was born anal-retentive.

I like to be prepared in any situation, for any situation. I do not understand what the words "pack lightly" mean. This lends itself nicely to being the parent of a Type 1 Diabetic; I can't think of any other disease that causes the caregivers to become pack mules.

But I have to admit that I've become a wee bit lazy in my "being prepared". If I'm running out to the store with Elise, I don't always take her insulin with me. I pretty much always have something for a low, but there have been times when we're going to Target or the grocery store and I've forgotten her emergency kit at home. Instead of turning around, I just figure I can grab something at the store if she goes low.

That's why the story in Sarnia, Ontario has given me great pause. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, motorists were stuck for over 24 hours on a highway due to a snow storm and had to be rescued.

On a side note, when the local news had a blurb about this story, they said it took place in Ontario Canada. Ontario is a pretty big place, folks. Let's narrow it down a bit. It's sort of like saying, "a tornado destroyed a town in Texas. In other news..." I'm just sayin'.

And it made me think... what if something like that happened to us? What if we were stuck somewhere with no access to food or the life-saving insulin my daughter needs? What would we do? Now granted, we don't get much snow here, but it reminds me of something that happened to us last Christmas Eve.

We were coming home from dinner following the Christmas Eve service at our church. It was a pretty bad storm for these parts; snow was coming down sideways. We did okay until we reached an overpass. The problem with overpasses is that they freeze when it's snowing/sleeting and become hills of ice. We tried to go over it, but kept sliding backwards. Other cars were coming behind us and were getting stuck too.

It was growing closer and closer to the time that Elise needed her bedtime insulin (which I did not bring with me) and a snack (I don't think I had any food with me either, she had eaten everything at dinner). Thankfully, Fred is an awesome driver and drove backwards through the maze of cars until he made it to an intersection. We then drove along the feeder road until we could drive under the highway instead of over it. A trip that normally takes 15 minutes took almost 90.

Thankfully, it ended well. But that memory, plus the story out of Sarnia, is the kick in the pants I need to become more committed to being prepared. As the mother of a 3-month old and a type 1 diabetic, I have a lot of crap to haul around with me. But the alternative is just too scary.

So tell me. How do you prepare? What are some of your must have items? Are there any products you just cannot do without?

***Yup, that's a picture of a sassy 5-or-6 year old me as a Brownie (I couldn't find any good Girl Guide ones). Go ahead, laugh. But I think I was cute as a red-headed button.