Follow Up to Confession #2

Way back when I started this blog, I had written a post about having an updated 72 hour kit. I thought that too often my posts might sound like I'm not good at anything...when really I am. I just thought I'd give you a bit of an update on how I have remedied one of my very first confessions.

I am happy to report that now I have an updated 72 hour kit. I have the right size of diapers and I also have underwear for Piglet. There are two pairs of clothes for everyone...one for warm weather and one for cool weather. I have all the food groups represented and I even have a can opener to open the tuna. I have whistles for everyone and enough glow sticks to last for awhile. I have first aid basics and at least two flashlights in it. There is cash broken up into smaller bills and we even have colored pencils and coloring books for the kids. I'm sure that we don't have everything that could go into a 72 hour kit, but at least we have it.

Ya wanna see?!?!

I got the idea to put it into a (clean) rolling trash can from a friend. It's not too heavy for me to lift into the trunk of my van and it has a handle that makes it easy to roll. I used to keep it in duffel bags. I found those to be hard to carry because you had to carry about 4 of them each. This has turned out to be the best solution for us. I also keep a case of water bottles in the van under the seats in the stow-and-go storage.

Anyway, this time I can say that I've fixed one of my confessions!

Confession #2 -- I Don't Have a Current 72 Hour Kit

But, I do have an old one.



I make this confession because awhile ago I (along with my other 7 siblings) was at my mom's house helping her clean out her garage. We came across a 72 hour kit that I remember putting together as a child one night for Family Home Evening. Because we were cleaning, we thought it would be interesting to see what was in this kit. We actually found some things that could still be used in one today. A hatchett, a flashlight that still worked (with new batteries), plastic eating utensils, etc. We also found things that we wouldn't use, even if our life depended on it. Food mostly. Old cans of Vienna Sausages (who eats those things?), packages of instant oatmeal, and some unidentifiable stuff. We found other things that were unusuable...bandaids that didn't stick, rubberbands that were cracked, shoes where the rubber soles were hard. Stuff like that.



But the thing that rocked my boat was the fact that we found diapers. My youngest sister is now 17. That means that this 72 hour kit was last updated minimum of 15 years ago. At least my parents were trying.



And that's what I like to remember when I think about my 72 hour kit. The food in there is still edible and the bandaids still work. The clothing might not fit any one of us, but there are at least blankets. My 72 Hour Kit is just one of those things that I keep thinking I should be diligent about keeping up, but with my busy life as a mom of two, being a primary president, having my husband in school still, and having my husband in the bishopric, it's just not happening.



And that's okay. In my kit, I may not have underwear for Piglet, but I have diapers for Tigger and they are the right size!