Ever try to treat a child who is hurt from a small cut or other injury? Not an easy task at times is it? They are in pain and are afraid that if you treat them the pain is going to be worse. They are crying and trying their best to get way from you treating them.
And what about a child that has seen something or been through something that is very traumatic for them? It is not always easy to calm them down even if they are unhurt
Now add the fact the SHTF and life is a lot different and a lot scarier to a child because life is more uncertain and so very different then what they are used to. What are you going to do to help them with their fears and distract them long enough to treat their injuries?
Yesterday I received a very small little teddy bear from a friend who knows I collect teddy bears. This one is about 2-3 inches tall and is so cute. It might sound a little childish but I decided to put that tiny bear in my bug out bag so that I would have it with me always if SHTF to remind me of my good friend if things get bad and I can never talk to her again.
While putting that little bear in my bag I got to thinking about all of the bears in my collection knowing I needed to cut back on some of them for the move. I am giving all my big stuffed Christmas bears to my youngest grandchildren but that is still going to leave all the smaller bears. I have my Cancer Society Bear collection, my military bear collection plus a lot of others. While I am going to keep the Cancer bears and military bears and some others that were bought for me I still have a bunch that I bought myself.
Out of the ones I bought I am going to pull out the ones I want to keep and the rest I had decided to put in a yard sale. But then I got to thinking about the bear my friend gave me and how much it would comfort me by reminding me of her if SHTF I thought maybe instead of putting them in a yard sale I could donate them to our local fire and police department for their teddy bear program where they hand out bears to calm children after an accident or some other traumatic experience.
When thinking about doing that it brought some thing else to mind. Maybe I should put a couple of the smallest bears in each of my first aid kits to use to help calm children during any time when they will need first aid. They can play with the bear while they are being treated and hopefully ease their minds a little. I can give them a couple of band aids so they can treat the bears while I treat them.
From that thought things kind of snowballed. I still have my son's hot wheels collection. He wanted to keep it in case he ever has a son. I asked him if I could have a few of the cars to add a couple to each first aid kit and he said I could. And then I remembered the finger puppets I still had from when I had a daycare in my home. I kept them for my grandchildren to play with. So I am going to add a couple of those to each first aid kit. I am going to look for few little dolls to add to the first aid kits and well. The children will be able to choose from the bag of toys what they want to play with while I am treating them and once they have calmed down they can put the toy back in the bag for the next time it is needed. All the toys will be small enough to fit in a quart size ZipLoc bag so they won't add to much weight or take up to much room in my first aid kits.
I know from personal experience that is a lot easier to apply first aid to a hurt child or to calm one down if they are scared if there is a toy they don't have around all the time to play with. Having something new or something they haven't seen is a long time brings them excitement and helps take their mind off the pain or being scared.
You might want to think of adding some small toys to your first aid kits just to help you out if you ever have to treat an injured child or calm one that has been scared to death from some experience.
Prepping Granny
And what about a child that has seen something or been through something that is very traumatic for them? It is not always easy to calm them down even if they are unhurt
Now add the fact the SHTF and life is a lot different and a lot scarier to a child because life is more uncertain and so very different then what they are used to. What are you going to do to help them with their fears and distract them long enough to treat their injuries?
Yesterday I received a very small little teddy bear from a friend who knows I collect teddy bears. This one is about 2-3 inches tall and is so cute. It might sound a little childish but I decided to put that tiny bear in my bug out bag so that I would have it with me always if SHTF to remind me of my good friend if things get bad and I can never talk to her again.
While putting that little bear in my bag I got to thinking about all of the bears in my collection knowing I needed to cut back on some of them for the move. I am giving all my big stuffed Christmas bears to my youngest grandchildren but that is still going to leave all the smaller bears. I have my Cancer Society Bear collection, my military bear collection plus a lot of others. While I am going to keep the Cancer bears and military bears and some others that were bought for me I still have a bunch that I bought myself.
Out of the ones I bought I am going to pull out the ones I want to keep and the rest I had decided to put in a yard sale. But then I got to thinking about the bear my friend gave me and how much it would comfort me by reminding me of her if SHTF I thought maybe instead of putting them in a yard sale I could donate them to our local fire and police department for their teddy bear program where they hand out bears to calm children after an accident or some other traumatic experience.
When thinking about doing that it brought some thing else to mind. Maybe I should put a couple of the smallest bears in each of my first aid kits to use to help calm children during any time when they will need first aid. They can play with the bear while they are being treated and hopefully ease their minds a little. I can give them a couple of band aids so they can treat the bears while I treat them.
From that thought things kind of snowballed. I still have my son's hot wheels collection. He wanted to keep it in case he ever has a son. I asked him if I could have a few of the cars to add a couple to each first aid kit and he said I could. And then I remembered the finger puppets I still had from when I had a daycare in my home. I kept them for my grandchildren to play with. So I am going to add a couple of those to each first aid kit. I am going to look for few little dolls to add to the first aid kits and well. The children will be able to choose from the bag of toys what they want to play with while I am treating them and once they have calmed down they can put the toy back in the bag for the next time it is needed. All the toys will be small enough to fit in a quart size ZipLoc bag so they won't add to much weight or take up to much room in my first aid kits.
I know from personal experience that is a lot easier to apply first aid to a hurt child or to calm one down if they are scared if there is a toy they don't have around all the time to play with. Having something new or something they haven't seen is a long time brings them excitement and helps take their mind off the pain or being scared.
You might want to think of adding some small toys to your first aid kits just to help you out if you ever have to treat an injured child or calm one that has been scared to death from some experience.
Prepping Granny