Taking care of two little boys during a hurricane is an added challenge during this natural disaster. Hurricane Ian is hammering Florida right now. Yes, hurricanes are a price to pay to live here, and we (my family) are prepared for this storm since it is not our first experience. However, our sons are small, and this time can be one of anxiety and uncertainty for them.
Limiting anxiety
One of our sons, in particular, tends to be more anxious. My wife and I make sure to stay informed of the storm with the news, the Weather Channel, the local EMS alerts, and so on, but we limit the exposure to Spider-Man* and Bonecrusher*. They are just too young right now to comprehend what is going on and to take in some of the images shown on the news.
Luckily, we have not lost power yet, so we have been having a ‘party’ as much as possible. Playing more video games, reading books, drawing/crafts, and the obligatory dance party has helped to keep them busy and their anxiety at a minimum. Of course, both boys (and Amos and Liberty, our two dogs) are still going stir crazy.
Family time
This hurricane has given us the opportunity to have more family time together. We did go ahead and celebrate Rosh Hashanah. Last night, we also watched (and loved) Minions: The Rise of Gru–perhaps the subject of a future review???
Special thank you
In the past when we would have to go prepare for a storm like this and get sandbags, we would have to go to the sandbag distribution station, pick up our allotment of empty bags, vie for a space at the sand dune (with shovel in hand), fill our own bags, carry the heavy sandbags to wherever we were lucky enough to find a parking place…all in the sweltering Florida heat.
This time was SO different. We went to our local sandbag distribution center, but we waited in our air-conditioned car (for 2.5 hours, yes)… but then the actual distribution was a drive-thru where the workers filled the sandbags and even loaded them into your car. We didn’t even have to get out of our vehicle. The workers were very nice.
Thank you so much for your service. It was much, much appreciated from this father.
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*Their names have been changed to protect the innocent (or not-so-innocent at times). This is what happens whenever you let little boys decide on nicknames.
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