Disaster planning

[sarah707]

I am so proud of my 8 year old mindee :clapping:

I just ran through a disaster plan with him...

What would you do if I fell down the stairs? He knew to phone an ambulance and what to say. He even remembered my address!

What would you do if the smoke alarms went off now? He knew that if he couldn't get out of the room, he should close the door and open the window and shout... he even talked about putting cushions at the bottom of the door because of the danger from smoke!

What would you do if a car swerved and hit me on the way to school? He knew where I keep my mobile in my coat and to ring 999 etc. I checked and he even knew the names of the roads we walk on.

One very highly praised young man in my house this morning! :D

[crazybones]

Well done clever little man. :clapping: :clapping:

[misst104]

wow, thats great. you have obviously 'taught' him well Sarah. Well done to both of you. :thumbsup:

jo x x x :)

[Pipsqueak]

what a clever little fella.:clapping: :clapping: extra hugs for him

my eldest knows to do all this and has from an early age, middle son is grasping the idea (although he still thinks it would be an opportunity to run amok:rolleyes: :rolleyes: ) and youngest well......:rolleyes:

[emler]

:clapping: well done to your mindee and to you :clapping:

[carebear25]

Well done 2 both of you x

[sparkibobs]

That's fantastic :clapping: :clapping:
You must be very proud
x

[Mollymop]

What clever little boy! Well done him and well done to you too Sarah x

[katickles]

Wow thats great Sarah. Well done you for teaching him as well - you clever pair! :clapping:

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[Minstrel]

Thats wonderful that he knows all that. I think its a fine line between teaching them this and scaring them- i am just doing this with my 5 yo son and he's very sensitive so he'll over worry about things. Do you have any tips about doing it the right way sarah?

[sarah707]

Help them to learn their full name and address... that's the first thing really. They don't need to know why they are doing it... just make it fun and get them to repeat it once a week or so until it's gone in. Involve all children including mindees, so it becomes a bit of a mantra. My name is... and I live at... get them to tell parents / granny etc so they are confident saying it out loud.

By 5 he should be getting ready to recite at least the number together with the street name, then as you go on walks point out the local street signs and the letters in them. This will help him to get a feel for where he lives and the general area around his house.

Then make it fun learning how to use the phone to call granny or aunty etc... or when you ring out for a take away let them dial the number. Most children love doing this... and you can always finish up by saying now remember, 999 is the emergency number, so we only ring it when there's an..... and they will pipe up with 'emergency', big praise for them and you're hammering the message home in a fun way.

It gives them a sense of achievement and you don't have to mention emergencies or fires etc, you're just teaching them something new.

I remember when my dd was about 5 I tripped and fell down some of the stairs and she came belting out of the playroom and asked me if it was an emergency and did I want her to ring the emergency number, so it does work.

You will probably find school are doing something similar fairly soon which will back up the stuff you do at home.

Hth :D

[Minstrel]

Thanks Sarah, that all makes sense.

As you say, we have started to teach him our address and we have some good landmarks around us which would be a good idea to point out to him as a guide. I think the best bit as you mentioned is not to bring up the fire or emergency words as these will frighten him.

We've recently talked about getting lost when we're out and stranger danger (following on from school) and he freaked out the next few times we went into town about 'bad men' so we've dropped that and just talk about 'forgetting where mummy is' and what he should do.

Its really hard this parenting lark, isnt it? lol

[sarah707]

Yes it is! Especially if you've got a timid child who gets scared easily.

it's an awful thing to have to spoil their innocence by talking to them about strangers and car accidents and fires... you just want to protect them as long as possible.

He will be ok though! My shy little baby who used to hide behind my legs is 15 now and going out to town on Friday night in a dress shorter than it ought to be with fishnet stockings and shoes she can't really walk in... :laughing:

[Minstrel]

Oh at least thats one thing i dont have to worry about with 2 boys (well i hope anyway!!!!!:laughing: )

Its probably from me he got it from anyway- i'm a terrible worrier and always imagine the worst and they really pick up on it. I've calmed down a lot for the sake of the children but some things are deep rooted. Shame.