Emergency Preparedness for the whole family

It was heartbreaking to see what happened to my Filipino brothers and sisters in the recent strongest typhoon Yolanda / Haiyan that hit central Philippines.  It could happen to anyone, anywhere.  So it will be helpful if we have something like a plan to activate when "emergency" happens.

So what is an emergency?  I told my children that when you hear me or daddy says "Emergency!", they will do what they have been told and practiced.  In our list, here are their keywords for Emergency:

Fire
Floods
Tornadoes
Blizzards
Earthquakes
Other natural disasters
Power and communication outages
Industrial disasters (we are in the ammonia spillage zone from Molson)
Transportation disasters
War
Alien or zombie attacks (just remembered World War Z)
"The Rapture" in case there will be remnants in our family (Please read the Post Rapture Guide)

I was part of the ISO 140001 (Environmental) and ISO 27001 (Information Security) planning and implementation team. Both of these international standards included ERP (Emergency Response Plan) and Disaster Recovery Plan. I remember it would take approximately 72 hours for the rescue team to reach you so your plan should be able to cover this 3 days to survive.

What to do before?
1. Put a copy of all important information in an offsite location (or in a USB drive). These can be scanned  government forms /ID, photos of each member of the family (in case, one of you got lost ), bank or investment documents, insurance documents, list of all passwords /access codes, list of all contact information (emergency numbers of government agency/disaster recovery command centre,  relatives and friends), money or jewelry (bank).

2. Prepare and practice an emergency exit plan / route. Aloysius won last year's cover page for the Molson calendar and his entry was entitled "Remember where the emergency exits are."  The drawing showed all possible exits in a school bus, in school, in the house, in malls or other public places.  Identify the safe meeting place.

3. Prepare an emergency kit and tell all members where to get them.  I have an old backpack where I put the following:

Flashlight
Canned food (have yet to discover efoods)
Can opener/knife
Water
Gloves and scarves
Blanket
Pen and paper
Swiss knife
Match and candles
Map
Whistle
Mirror - to use in sending signals
Small Bible
USB Drive of your information backup
I'm still looking for a battery operated radio


What to do in an emergency?
1.  Stay calm and be alert so that you will not forget about the "Plan". The kids will lose focus when they see you panic. If there is still an opportunity, pray together. Remind them about God's love, comfort and protection.
 

2. Direct the kids and remind them about the plan -- get the kit, follow the exit route and run to the safe place. Bring the phone, car /house keys, wallet/money and Go. 
Depending on the situation, sometimes you need to wait for the signal to leave the house. Keep communication lines open. 

3. Take an extra kit. I told my kids that if there is still a chance, they can fill another bag or bags up with all the ready to eat food and water they can get from the cupboard. Take biscuits, cookies, fruits, bread.  I learned from a survivor / blogger that they only packed chocolate bars but they survived 2 days of walking before they reached an evacuation center in Tacloban. The chocolates were not just handy but also energy packed.

4. Bundle up - if the emergency happens on a cold weather, wear all the necessary clothes, footwear and headgear. if there's no opportunity, just grab your blanket or tower and run.

5.  If needed, like in a case of fire, they must run and save their own lives. No turning back! The important thing is for them to be safe.The kids should know where to go in case they are the only survivors.

6. Contact others or the disaster command center and let them know your whereabouts.  if you can, go to the evacuation center

7. If you are stuck somewhere and help is nowhere to be found, do not lose hope. Pray, read the bible. Praise and worship God.  He will save us.  

Emergency Preparedness Plan is a must for every family.  You should have one.  

BTW, this plan should be reviewed and communicated to all family members every year. 

Teaching kids to be responsible early

Photo from thehappyhousewife.com found on facebook.

I'm proud to say that my kids remember their goals / targets.  I applied what I learned and used in my work at home to set KPIs (Key Performance Metrics) and to achieve them.  We only have 3 so that they won't forget:

1.  Feed your Mind (Soul)  - meaning to do all activities that will enrich the mind and nourish the soul - reading, math exercises, studying, reading the bible, praying, listening to worship songs etc.

2. Feed your Body - eat healthy food, drink plenty of water.  Limit sweets and salty food. No soda pop.

3. Cleanse your Body - taking a bath, brushing and flossing teeth, wearing clean clothes, washing hands, playing clean toys or games.

These activities are in order of priority.  They have to finish all three or complete one before doing another activity.  i.e.  Wash Hands first before eating or brushing teeth before going to bed.  They can play only after all 3 have been completed.

They are asked to do small tasks like setting up the table, tidying up toys and school or art supplies everyday.  Once a week, they help in the laundry by sorting their own clothes and storing them in their respective drawers.  They also water the plants indoors and outdoors during summer.  They also help in mowing the lawn using the manual type.  I remember this last summer, they helped me in the garden by removing all dandelions, raking the leaves and putting them in the bin.  I make it a point that every once in a while they wash the dishes.  Aloysius and Kyle work as a team with one soaping the dishes and the other one rinsing and storing.

Anything that hinders them from achieving these tasks are identified as time-wasters, and they need to stay away from it. Talk about efficiency and achieving the targets in our home.  I hope they will continue to develop good habits of doing something of value at an early age.  Striving for excellence will not be hard if you have started to achieve your set goals, you can outperform or overachieve and be hungry for more.

God will bless those who work with their hands.

Rajgilc's reunion is finally happening

RAGJILC - These are my high school friends.  Please read my previous blog post about how exciting our teenage lives were. The recent vacation of one of our dabarkads in London where 2 in the group met made most of us envious.  The FB comments included -how come kayo Lang? Or next time sa US naman etc. These prompted us to push through with the plans of having a grand reunion, as in GRAND! So we started reconnecting thru Viber chat and calls, Skype, FB and emails as some of us are not techy (asking help from daughters to install the APP LOL!).

Anyway, it was decided that we will all go to Florida so that everyone will travel by land or air.  There are lots of beaches, theme parks and other attractions in Orlando. If time and budget permits, we can go and try a 2-night cruise to The Bahamas. With our families in tow, we need variety of activities that our children can be busy with while we spend time together in our vacation home.  Yes, we have already made a reservation and the room assignment is completed.  We are all very excited, keeping in touch with each other everyday thru Viber text and calls for updates.  This alone is something that we missed, talking to each other endlessly. You could just imagine how our chat in Skype sounded like when everybody wants to talk at the same time, it was like the old times in our hang out - Masanga, only now global na!

I hope that others will keep in touch and join us in conversations, now the topics are more of value and not just friendly chatter.  Sometimes, we just laugh and exchange silly stickers or icons just to keep us sane from the daily chores and stress from work. Looking forward to spending time with you my dear friends. It's going to be one of a kind gallibonding!

Our days are numbered, what do we do?

"LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered--how fleeting my life is."  Psalm 39:4

I don't want to sound morbid but reality bites. So while we can, we live our life to the fullest. How?

Psalm 90:12 Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Number our days 
Is it money? or number of houses?  Cars? women? Cities you have travelled? Luxury bags or apparel? Achievement or awards?  God will not look at these numbers.  How do we get the numbers?  Let us think of these:

How many years have you live?

How many years have you been -
As a daughter or a son?
As a sibling?
As a parent?
As a worker?
As an employer?
As a student?
As a Christian? (Have you learned about and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour?)

So after determining the numbers, let us think of the past and present so that the outcome will guide us on how to live our future or until our brief time on earth ends.

1.  Blessings - in all these numbers, have you thought of how faithful and good our God is, even if we have not been good and faithful?  Have we been thankful?

2. Relationships - let us go back to each of the stages in our life and think about how fruitful and meaningful the relationships were. If there were not good or broken or even superficial, we might as well reconnect with them, say sorry and make up before it's too late.  There is a reason why  we were there in their lives, if there is an opportunity to start over again, do it and share God's love. It might be that our long lost friend is troubled and need God right now.  Let us be the channel.

3. Spending time with and for the Lord.  Going back to the questions above, in all the years you have been on this earth, how many hours have you spent with The Lord - Reading and meditating on His words, praising and worshipping Him, doing what pleases God and not men. Sharing your blessings, spending time, resources and talent for His ministry. To bring others to Christ and fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20).  Going back to number 1 and thinking about God's love and faithfulness, isn't it about time that we give back by numbering our days right?

I know it's difficult or we're probably in denial on how life should be lived because we are so caught up in the busyness of life and our web of worldly treasures. But they are all fleeting.  God is just waiting and we just need to respond quickly before it's too late.

The Parent is the child's first and best teacher

The title of this blog entry is a quote from my favorite homeschooling blogger Mariel of The Learning Basket.

I have not considered homeschooling an option because I want my children to enhance and develop their social skills in a regular school. They need that because of their introvert nature.  But I think I could use the freebies to further help my children in mastering the lessons they learn in school.  The idea of homeschooling still appeals to me because you will have control and you will know the progress of your children through the activities and evaluation/tests that they will undergo. I know it's going to be hard to find time to do this now that my parents went home, but I will try my best to juggle my work and home front and do my version of homeschooling (teaching them when they are home).

I found many sites on homeschooling and some of them are the regular sites that my children visit even without asking them.  Starfall.com is their favourite. I have come up with links to my favourite homeschooling resource and blogs.  This list is also for my sister who will relinquish her successful career to become a full time mom to Candy and Carlisle when they go to the US next year.

Homeschooling Resource and Freebies:
Free Homeschool Deals
IXL Learning
Thinking Blocks
Starfall
Life of Fred Mathematics
Time for Learning
Vocabulary Spelling City
Kids numbers

Here are my favourite moms whom I respect and admire for their dedication and hardwork in homeschooling, managing the home fulltime (something that I can't do without being insane) and updating their blogs regularly to keep me inspired and entertained.

Homeschoolers Blogs:
 The learning basket
Teach with Joy
The Mommy Journey
Our Family for His Glory
Filipino Homeschoolers

There are more sites out there but the above list are those I have tried using as my reference in my "homeschooling".

Next, our other favorite activity: Reading

Book Review: Tops and Bottoms

My kids love to read and I also love reading to them. It gives us both quality time and added knowledge on the books that we read even if they are for kids.  The latest book that we read is called TOPS and BOTTOMS by Janet Stevens.

The book is both for young and old as the story can happen in real life.

The story revolves around a rich but lazy Bear who owns a big land and poor but clever Hare. It shows how life can be turned around if you are lazy even if you are very rich. The Hare gives hope to those who are poor but are hardworking and smart.

Because Hare has a big family and Bear owns a land but only sleeps anyway, he asked Bear to become his business partner.  Hare proposed that his family will plant on the land and they will split the harvest based on tops or bottoms. The choices that Bear made between tops and bottoms were not  wise because at the time he is being asked, he is always sleepy. In between the pages of this book are nice illustrations that depict the story and sent my children to boisterous laughter.

I told my children that the story shows how you can be tricked when you are not focused and want only to enjoy life.  Life is not only about having fun and letting time pass without accomplishing anything. We are supposed to work and plan before play and enjoy.  I hope you will find a copy of this book and read to your children. Enjoy TOPS and BOTTOMS by Janet Stevens.

Pensive thoughts on blogging

I admit that I thought of removing my blog from the Internet.  This blog was not regularly updated it couldn't even pass for the word blog which means web log, a daily log of activities.  But then I thought that I will erase my digital footprint and I could still use this site to bring good news. Well, I started this blog with my stuff, activities and happenings, then my family's and I realized that I could use the journals for my kids to go back to and for my scrapbooking (another neglected hobby of mine).

My temporary absence in the blogging world does not mean there's nothing going on in my life.  It's been very busy actually that I didn't find time to put them in writing. My apologies to my followers if you are still out there. I hope I can still go back and blog the significant events of my life. I want to thank those who have visited this site.  I still find visitors to this site from all over and I hope that my entries have been helping in whatever you are googling about.

I promise to keep this blog updated and bring you the information you need or will be interested in.

Irmee