Parents are practically required to be good packers. One quickly learns the ramifications of being ill-prepared. A shortage of diapers or wipes, or a lack of snacks or activities during an airport delay or traffic jam, can quickly change an otherwise pleasant day into, well, a disaster. But what if a 6-year-old could be just as prudent?
Last year, the Will County Emergency Management Agency of Illinois visited my children’s school to present an assembly on “Disaster Preparedness.” Facilitators walked students through the important steps of how to stay safe during and after a natural disaster. EMA provided cloth emergency kit bags for each child to decorate and bring home to fill; a kit curated for each family to be self-sufficient for 72 hours on the off chance that it took first responders that long to arrive at your door, or what might be left of it.
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My kindergartener, Boyd, was especially excited to fill his kit and, as soon as he arrived home that day, went straight to work doing so. Coincidentally, two days later our phones alerted us of a tornado warning and instructed us to take shelter somewhere safe. Down two flights of stairs to our basement we went, hurrying into a guest room at the eastern edge of the house. On the bed, huddled atop a heap of unfolded laundry, we waited. Then waited some more. Outside, the storm continued to unleash its strength. Strong winds and heavy rain pounded against the roof and nearby window. We sat with the lights off, whispering our concerns to the darkness.
Thirty minutes later, when it sounded like the noise outside was easing, our grumbling stomachs had silenced our fears, and with the thought that the tornado threat may have been just that — merely a threat — we encouraged Boyd to reveal what he had packed inside his emergency kit. He was the only one of our four children who had the good judgment to pack his kit ahead of time, and the only one who remembered to bring his kit downstairs and into our safe room that day.
As if watching Santa Claus himself, my three other children, husband, and I sat wide-eyed as Boyd revealed the contents of his magic bag:
2 bags of chips
2 Gatorades
2 bottles of water
1 container of wet dog food (for the dog, of course)
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There were six of us, mind you, and a dog, and while some fast math told us we’d have to share, there was one item our son had decided to include meant for all of us. Inside his emergency kit, Boyd had chosen to pack a small wooden comfort cross. It was a surprising but proud-parent moment realizing Boyd: our wild-child, the child we’re never quite sure is paying attention, the child we worry about the most, had thought to pack such an item. He’d had the forethought to rely on faith, trust in God, and know that all would be okay, no matter what.
The idea to pack a cross in an emergency kit bag, from a 6-year-old, no less, reaffirmed why I’m so proud and grateful for my children’s Catholic education. I knew that all the priests, seminarians, and hardworking teachers at his school had played a large part in his decision to place that cross in his bag, not that day — but all the days before. No doubt, a constant reiteration to trust in God and rely on faith in both joyous, but also challenging and uncertain times, had stuck. Could we forever rely on our 6-year-old to assume all packing duties moving forward? Probably not. But certainly, he had been clever enough to think of the most essential item to always have. In that moment, the parent in me knew that our children, within their Catholic school, were in the right place just as we — steadfast around that small wooden comfort cross, in the safest room of the house with a storm outside, were in exactly the right place, too.
