It’s scary to think you might be separated from your child in an emergency. All the fires we are having here are making me think about our family emergency plan.
When I got divorced one of my biggest fears was that there would be some sort of disaster and I wouldn’t be able to get to Hailey. She went to school on the other side of town from where I worked so if there was an earthquake I probably would not be able to get to her.
Once she got a little older and had a cell phone I took comfort in knowing that I would at least be able to communicate with her until I could get to her.
It’s important when you are divorced to have an emergency plan that includes both parents. We have been told if there is a natural disaster that local cell phone calls may not go through but we should be able to call out of the area.
I always made sure Hailey had my mother’s phone number memorized and I wrote it inside her backpack as well. My mother lives out of state so she was our contact person. My ex husband had her number and she had his so that if something happened and we were unable to call each other Hailey could check in with my mother, tell her where she was and then my mother could let her father and I know when we called.
It isn’t a foolproof plan but at least it’s a plan. Hopefully, if we ever have to use it, it will work. My sisters live in Utah as well and our mother is everyone’s point of contact. In an emergency we should all be able to communicate and find each other through my mother.
Make sure your children have phone numbers memorized. In this technological age very few people know phone numbers any more but in an emergency cell phones may not work and they will have to rely on memory.
Include your ex spouse in your plans, let him know what is going on. He needs to know the children are safe as well.