Do we really involve our spouses in getting ready?

[610Alpha]

So she made some room on some shelves in the basement in addition to the shelves I had with my supplies. She moved over our canned goods and other food we normally use all to one location. She gave me time to go through and sort out stuff and organize it. Then last night she says "You know some time we should shut off the electricity and see how we do"....when she said that I was just amazed out how far she has come with all this. We talked about how we could do a dry run and by doing so we figure what works and what doesn't. She is all game for it!! Oh and the big thing is she calls all of our supplies our "Survival Supplies" :)

Oh btw LD3 she really likes the medical kit and surgical kit I got from you!! She has really come a long ways in the past few days.

She was looking at generators online last night too.

I have no doubt that I have a Proverbs Wife.

My wife is very involved. In fact, we have divided up the many aspects of prepping into categories and have taken ownership of those aspects.
While I work on things like security, water, and livestock, she works on things like food, shelter(s), and medical among various other things.

[610Alpha]

The Lord works in Mysterious Ways!!

I get home from work tonight and my wife says "I have a complaint"

I said "Ok, what is it?"

She sayd "All your survival stuff is unorganized and WE need to get it more organized in case something happens"

She went on to explain how I am a bit scattered with things and nothing is labeled, all true. She told me the various things that need to be addressed and she was spot on every point except how many gallons of water per person per day.

God used my unorganized mess of survival supplies to bring her on board with setting aside money out of our budget to get prepared!!!

Thank you Jesus for using my shortcoming to bring her on board!!

[Grinnan Barrett]

Trying to get my husband on board and not successful so far. He is retired from the miliary and works for a security dept of the state. He thinks the EMP threat is low and if there is a disaster I will live with him at work because he will be there 24/7 with the type of work he does. We live 10 miles from his job. Asked him how I will get there with cars and phones not working and he got frustrated and didn't have an answer. I don't know what to do now. Prep alone?

I think you are correct. You may have to prep alone for a while at least. Do what you do. If he thinks EMP is not serious then he has never spoken to the folks who maintain the grid. it is very real and very scary. you cannot make him something he is not. Do you shoot? If not I would get into it. I understand how you feel right now. For many years myself and my kids were Survivalists. Today my wife is a prepper. Survivalist is too much for her to call herself. GB

[Grinnan Barrett]

When we were married I made a conscious decision that my wife would be a partner in all that we do. We make decisions together and we're equally involved in prepping. She is my best friend. We even hunt and fish together. There are many things she does well that I can't do (I hate to admit carpentry is one of them). She is the perfect woman for me and I thank God every day for her. The only problem is she likes to have matching guns and knives (It cost more than matching sweaters). I always know she has my back. ;)

What you have is a true marriage. So many marriages are predicated on one party wanting to change the other into something they are not. GB

[bushrat]

When we were married I made a conscious decision that my wife would be a partner in all that we do. We make decisions together and we're equally involved in prepping. She is my best friend. We even hunt and fish together. There are many things she does well that I can't do (I hate to admit carpentry is one of them). She is the perfect woman for me and I thank God every day for her. The only problem is she likes to have matching guns and knives (It cost more than matching sweaters). I always know she has my back. ;)

[JanuaryJones]

Trying to get my husband on board and not successful so far. He is retired from the miliary and works for a security dept of the state. He thinks the EMP threat is low and if there is a disaster I will live with him at work because he will be there 24/7 with the type of work he does. We live 10 miles from his job. Asked him how I will get there with cars and phones not working and he got frustrated and didn't have an answer. I don't know what to do now. Prep alone?

[Grinnan Barrett]

I really appreciate the feedback thus far. It was very interesting when we brought the topic up in our group meeting last night. There was a lot of silence at first. One thing about our group meetings is we have always had both spouses present or at least invited to attend. We don't do them every week but one thing we are finding is we have to reevaluate our plans on a much more regular basis. It used to be once a year and then we went to once every six months. Now we are every two months. Things are changing so fast now. that is one of the reasons i wanted to bring up this topic. Getting ready is no longer a thing one person can handle in my opinion. you can get yourself ready maybe but not the family. My kids are all grown so they are involved automatically on their own. I know there are some spouses who are not into what we do and that is fine. You cannot half way commit to getting ready. At our meeting we found out very quickly some of the women are much better organizers than any of us ever will be. They brought up questions that we have never considered. It comes back to did I write the plan or did my family write the plan. People buy into what they build.

[antishot]

This might help me

If you guys want to get the women in your lives involved, have them read "One Second After." The thought of my child going hungry or worse has been a huge motivator for me. By nature, we are caregivers, and the thought of not being able to care for those we love scares us like nothing else.

I have been trying to get my wife on board for the last two years after our last child. BUT she really doesn't want to hear anything i have to say. she about blew a gasket when I turned the small spare room into a pantry and loaded it up. When that happed I asked her do we have home owners insurance "yes" Do we have car insurance "yes" do we have health insurance "yes" do we have life insurance "yes" don't we pay insurance every month for our cell phones "yes" so Hun why don't we have food insurance. I was told we can just go to the store and pick some up :confused:

[tech]

My wife was supportive, but not truly "on board" until Katrina came thru. Yes, we bugged out, but we also had enough to survive for a good while if necessary. Since that time, she has been more involved and has come across some great deals I likely would not have seen. Teamwork, folks...teamwork :)

[georgia]

So true! My better half wasn't onboard until he also read "One Second After" and saw the terrible possibilities of a complete collapse. Now he wants to retire and move to a small farming area. He's handling part of the preps while I handle the other half. Our son, a police officer, is also now onboard after reading the book, as is one of our daughters. The others know about it, and I've taught them enough to get them started on the first essentials. They should be able to recognize the first warnings of collapse and react appropriately. As for our church, we've taught preparedness classes, so some of our members are at least aware, and prepared for a minimum of two weeks. It takes time and a hard headed love to get through to those who would rather stick their heads in the sand. But we owe it to those we love to keep trying. So keep the faith, preppers!

[Hit or Miss]

My husband and I have "Monday Night Date Night" we go to the range for shooting practice and then he takes me to dinner...he was so easy to manipulate. Now seriously, we are in this together. We both have certain areas of responsibility but coordinate all large purchase items and share in those decisions. Prepping is something we do together.

[SCinPNW]

I am the main prepper in our house. In 2004/05 I sat my husband down and explained to him how and why I thought we needed to be prepared and he agreed. However, he does not have the time to spend researching this stuff nor the inclination--so I do it. But that is how things work in our marriage, we discuss things, then divide and conquer. If I am unsure about something or need to get his help/opinion on something, I take it to him, we discuss and he says I think "X", and I will generally say, "Great idea, thanks!" And then he will say, "Excellent, my work is done here!" which has turned into a joke between us.

The most important factor here is that the other spouse is on board with prepping, how involved they are is another topic. If the other spouse is not on board with prepping than that would be a significant issue that would/could cause problems within the relationship in my opinion. Is it easier to have the other spouse involved, most definitely.

[ridgerunner]

I have a hard time convincing my wife that "we" need another case of 5.56 :) I am sure the money could be spent on other preps as well. Will I ever have enough ammo?

[oldsoldier]

Well.................................The wife and I both prep but in different ways. While I prep with the 3 B's, she financially preps, for our retirement including keeping a good supply of ready cash. It seems to be a good balance.