If Prepping Was a Club, My Family Would Have Got Me Kicked Out Years Ago!

I got to thinking about my college fraternity recently–most likely because they keep sending emails wanting me to update my contact info–and for some reason I started contemplating that “if prepping were a club, like my college fraternity, I’m positive my family would have got me kicked out years ago!” Why? It’s really all about “the rules of prepping” that MUST be adhered to…

Certainly, I love my family; however, they also DRIVE ME NUTS at times! I’m sure you can empathize. I don’t know how your family works but around here… I’m the “prepper.” Yup, it’s my responsibility almost 100%. And, for the most part I’m ok with that setup… until I feel like my efforts and requests get ignored and taken too lightly.

If things were truly up to me everything would probably be labeled (including the light switches), cataloged with multiple off-site backups, and triple-checked for freshness three times a week. 🙂 Yes, I can be a bit overbearing about prepping at times.

In fact, it seems the older I get the more obsessive-compulsive I’ve become and I’m almost positive my grandmother had something to do with that *minor* character flaw. Regardless, I understand my wife and kids are their own people and they don’t always see things the way I do or prefer. I get it.

Now, in my family’s defense, I never expected them to take this stuff as seriously as I do. I want my wife to focus on her career delivering babies and I want my kids to still be kids while they can. Recently, however, I had to “lay down the law” and get things back in order… with my wife’s blessing, of course. 😉

What, in particular, am I unhappy about? A few things come to mind…

• My wife and I were walking into the grocery store the other day when she briefly mentioned that she “needed some cash” and that the emergency stash she keeps in her day planner was low. I gave her a look and she immediately knew she was *in trouble* with the returned look on her face because this isn’t the first time she’s done that. Turns out she used some of her cash that she is NEVER supposed to use to buy who knows what so that she didn’t have to use her credit or debit card. I understand her desire to not use a credit card but disagree with the reasoning. IMO, that cash is ONLY to be used if there was no other choice. That’s why we have it!
• My kids have a tendency to rarely put flashlights back where they belong. Since we live at a higher latitude now the sun literally sets by 5:00. And, one job the kids have is to walk the dog in the evening and so they’re always using a flashlight or two. Inevitably, the flashlights wind up on the table, their bedroom… inevitably where they don’t belong. Normally, this isn’t a big deal and I simply ask the kids to put their flashlights back but, again, everything has a place… even (especially?) the flashlights. In fact, just the other day we lost power and (amazingly) the flashlights were where they were supposed to be.
• My wife doesn’t always see the need to fill up her car with gasoline as often as I do and, though very rare these days, has been known to let the empty light alert her to the need to fill up. I doubt she let’s this happen much any more as I’m often on her case about it, even more so since we only have one vehicle to rely upon right now. I prefer to have the tank at least half full and certainly no less than a quarter full. It’s just a matter of getting my better half to fully understand this. Sadly, it will probably only happen if/when she runs out of gas one night and winds up stranded asking me to come get her.
• My kids haven’t been locking the doors. Since we’ve moved the kids don’t seem to lock the doors like they should, especially since we now live seemingly “in the middle of nowhere” with only a few neighbors. In all honesty, it feels rather safe and peaceful and I think we’re in a good area but you never know what could happen or when. Lock the darn doors!

I know these few examples aren’t big deals in-and-of themselves. So what if my kids don’t put a flashlight back? I’ve got a few others around the house I could readily grab, from small keychain lights to larger Maglites, and that’s not to mention the emergency lights in each bedroom. The problem, however, is what happens when I NEED a particular flashlight and it’s not there? That’s the problem. Granted, I’ve got my bases covered here but it’s really the principle of the matter. I expect things to be a certain way, in a certainly place, done a specific way, etc.

My family SHOULD appreciate this way of being. After all, it’s my wife who is guaranteed to need to leave in the middle of the night to go on a birth and shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not the gas tank has enough gas in it! Similarly, my kids are the ones who are most likely to need a flashlight EVERY evening to walk the dog and shouldn’t have to go searching for one EVERY night!

IMO, these are simple acts that benefit us all. They should be no-brainers, right? Apparently not. I guess it’s just the way people are wired, even my own family. Again, these are only small examples and the vast majority of my “prepping lifestyle” are as they should be. But, as life often points out, it’s the simplest things and often the ONE thing which isn’t right. And it’s inevitable that the ONE thing which isn’t right that is precisely what was needed at any particular moment.

All I can do is to keep preppin’ on…

So, how does any of this relate to being a club and getting kicked out of it? Well, as I mentioned at the start, clubs have rules and if prepping were a club that had an assortment of basic rules, well, we’d have broken all of them at one time or another! That’s ok. I love my family and I’m not very fond of clubs these days.