What If?

Every now and then, I find myself running through disaster scenarios in my mind - usually while I am driving or contemplating a recent major life event. Or sometimes just after I've tucked my kiddos into bed at night. Or sometimes at just purely random times. I think about things like, "What if there was a fire tonight?" or "What if I lost my job?" or "What if I got in a car crash and died?" or "What if someone broke into our house and stole all our stuff?" or "What if the kids don't come walking through the door today on queue?"


I know, a little dire and dark, but really...am I the only one? I think it has to be natural to contemplate life's potential catastrophies at some level so that we can be prepared (to the extent that is possible) or so that we can prevent or at least mimimize the liklihood that we'll have to endure such trials.


So for me, when I think about such scary "What If's" on occassion (like today), the positive twist is that I try to figure out what I can do about it. I'm not much of a worrier. I'd rather be proactive and prepared. So here are some of my mental notes translated to paper...

The fire: let's make sure our detector batteries are changed and that we've practiced our escape route and family meeting place with the kids.

The job loss: let's make sure we're building up our reserves, both cash and food. Let's eliminate our debt where possible and live within our means.

The car crash: let's make sure we're paying attention while driving (no texting), make sure our cars are serviced, our kids are buckled up and tight in their car seats, and that our auto and life insurance policies are in good shape.

The break in: let's make sure our homes are secured, that we double check them at night and before leaving the house, and that we have our valuable, irreplaceable stuff (like journals, family albums, pictures, etc.) scanned and backed up somewhere off site (like on a web server, CD, external drive, etc.) Take a backup to another family member's house, for example. This would also be really helpful in the event of a fire.

The kids: let's review stranger danger and bike/road safety. Let's make sure we have a family password in place and that our kids know it well. Practice with them when they might need to use it (like when someone tells your child that their mom asked them to give the child a ride home from softball practice.) In every single case, no matter who that someone is, if that someone doesn't know the family password, then the answer is definitely NO!) Scream and run!

So...in the spirit of worrying less and being proactive more, I'm actively backing up all my irreplaceable stuff. I'm trying to get more things scanned. I'm running regular backups.


Here are a few of my recently scanned and archived layouts. (Barrett's school pages for the last 2 years. ) She just started 5th grade and is growing up so fast! I will certainly post the current year school pics later this fall too!