Once a month, I open the feed for you to promote your community, your business, a project that would benefit from feedback, basically a Free4All. Simple play rules: 1. Before or after sharing, comment on 2 other shares 2. Let’s keep everything in this post for easy reference 3. Up to 2 “promo’s” in 24 hours - remember, “Share Don’t Sell!” 4. Have Fun. Tagging a few folks to get this started, if I missed you, it’s not intentional, it’s my ongoing challenge with the app. @Betty Jo Winters @Brenda Chilstrom @Cam Parkes @Celia Kibler @Des Cooke @Daniel Cavaretta @Elizabeth Houston @Amy Grantham @Jose Guerra @Karen Gibson @Katya McEwen @Cristal Vancarson @Steven Cruz @Heather Wilson @Janell Bitton @Jay Dee Archer @Lidia Axe @Lisa Vanderveen @Jen Staniforth @Max Orlewicz @Mayelice Castro @Roslyn Hill @Natasha Bryant @Natalie Duncan @Sharon Otaguro @Paul Wren @Paula Artis @Ramona Zihlke @Tim Tindle @Wendy Venema @Anna Murrietta @Evelene Sterling @Devin Trent

Let’s extend a warm welcome to our newest community members @Adam Cyster @Natasha Bryant @Amy Grantham @Maryna Tempalova and @Dannielle McAuliffe Please don’t be shy! Say hi! Quick Tips: you’ll find play ideas under Play Prompts or Games and many are designed by age. Sunday is coffee chat- you can see the topics in the calendar and recordings are shared within 24 hours. I’m excited to be on this adventure with you.

Let’s extend a warm welcome to @Amy Grantham @Heather Wilson @Sandie Slowey and @Nakita Fele Please introduce yourself. We are happy to have you here. Some quick tips. General Discussion is primarily “education” and general info. Play Prompts and Games are activities for you and your family or the kids in your life. Free4All is your area, share tips, ask for help, anything you choose. More shortly.

Today is Saturday and that means we have fun and share about ourselves. What was your favorite book or books as a child? Were you drawn to a specific genre or author? What about now as an adult? Do you find yourself still drawn to similar book genres or have you left those childhood stories behind. I loved mysteries, of course, it might be due to that was all my grandma kept at her house. I started with the Bobbsey Twins, then Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys (I preferred them), and graduated to Ellery Queens Minute Mysteries. At home, we had lots of magazines and trips to the library. Your turn.

Bear with me as I introduce my topic for today. Those of you who have been in the community for awhile may recall we lost power for three days due to a freak ice storm. As much as we tried to prepare, no one was ready for no heat and no supplies because stores were either sold out or seasonal merchandise was changing. Ugh. Yesterday, we lost power in the middle of the day, no reason given, just poof everything shut off, fortunately power was back within 2 hours but then, we had a thunderstorm to beat all thunderstorms, wind, hail, pouring rain. At one point, I thought a tree was going to come into the bedroom! Even the cats freaked out and they are pretty laid back. Did I mention, we live in an area prone to tornados? 2 weeks ago we celebrated the 20 year anniversary of the tornado that tried to eat me. Luckily it didn’t but it did get my car and the building I worked in. Which leads me to our topic today. What do we do to prepare our kids for an emergency. I’d like you to think about this, when a crisis happens, whether it’s a power outage, a storm, a kitchen fire, or even a war, the brain’s "alarm center" (the amygdala) takes over. This is the biological "High Pressure" system. In this state, logic goes out the window, and panic sets in. The antidote to panic isn't "calmness,” it’s Muscle Memory. When we talk to our kids about emergency preparedness, the goal isn’t to scare them, instead, it’s to help them. Formally, this is known as “Pre-Scripting” the brain. We are giving the prefrontal cortex a set of instructions to follow so that when the "alarm" goes off, the body already knows what to do. How can we help? One way is to minimize confusion which happens when there is a gap between "something is wrong" and "I know what to do." Preparation closes that gap. When kids have a job or a plan, they feel like they matter in the moment. They aren't just a liability to be carried; they are a part of the team. I’d love to know, what’s one of your “scary” emergencies and how did you handle it?