*A Reluctant Wife*
This may help some of you that have a wife that is somewhat reluctant to share your views on preparing. I know that there are several articles that talk about this on the boards, but I thought I would tell how I have dealt with it, and what worked for me.
My wife and I have always tried to buy a little extra when at the grocery store, and usually had about a month worth put back. To me that wasn’t enough, but I was ok with it. She was happy with what we had so the house was happy. After hurricane Ike (3 years ago), I got a small break. We had bought a little extra especially for the storm, and were up to almost 2 months of supplies. During the hurricane, me and 2 of my sons stayed at home to ride out the storm, and my wife, daughter, daughter-in-law, and mother went to my sisters about an hour north of us. We were hit pretty hard with the wind, and had trees and limbs down all over the yard. Ironically, the eye passed over them so it took two days before they could come home.
When the storm was over, me and the boys cooked breakfast and started cleaning up the trees. My wife called, and ask how we were doing, and ask about the damage which was minimal for us. I then ask her how they were doing. That is when she told me that my sister and her husband didn’t even have a match to light the one candle that was on the coffee table, no food other than chips, and no water. My brother-in-law had unplugged or turned off the A/C, refrigerator, and freezer so the power spikes wouldn’t cause any damage way before the storm hit, and by leaving the door shut, everything had ruined because of the heat. She said that she didn’t understand why they did not prepare for such a storm.
This incident was a great opportunity for me to let her know how I felt about preparing, and she agreed. After that, as we could, we increased our supplies to around 3 months, and she was happy with that. She didn’t feel like we should do any more because of the lack of storage space, and I kind of agreed with her at the time.
Then about two years ago, a friend told me about the Alpha Rubicon site. I started reading the articles, and couldn’t stop. There was so much information on the public side, I was amazed. I spent all my available time reading, and learning a lot about preparedness. I thought that I knew a lot, but was I mistaken. I am still learning. I had my wife start reading some of the articles, and she said that it seemed to her to go too far. I started buying a little extra when we would go to the grocery store, and she would say that we don’t need that, we have enough already, or where are we going to put it.
Then a little over a year ago I was accepted into the Rubicon family. I was so happy, and then found out that the public side just scratches the surface on being prepared. I am still learning, still amazed, and still trying to achieve my new goals, but even though my wife was onboard to some extent, I wasn’t happy with her reluctance to go all the way and didn’t know how to change her outlook.
Her outlook was that everything will always be the same with good news, and bad news. We just have to continue as we are and things will get better, and it will be better for our kids. The kids have their dreams and nothing will ever really change in the world. So, when she said that, about 9 months ago, I took that as my queue and started trying to explain to her about prior to all the wars and disasters that we have been involved in since becoming a nation, there were always signs that pointed to what was coming. I told her that all those families had dreams for their kids also, and they did not heed the warning signs. I agreed with her on the dreams for our kids, and hope that they will be fulfilled, but what “if” something happened to alter the plans? Would we be prepared to deal with everything that might come against us or them?
I then told her about all the warning signs that are around us now, and that I too hoped that they were bogus, but we have to plan for the worse and hope for the best. She said that things are getting better, but couldn’t really name anything that was better. Groceries are getting more costly, and the packaging is getting smaller. Everything is going up in price, and wages are staying the same, or being reduced as mine was. We are taking care of 2 and sometimes 3 other households at times because of lack of work for those relatives. Crime is on the increase in our area, and so on. I told her that we are looking at a collapse of the financial system soon, and may not be able to replenish what we have, and I didn’t want to hear our kids and grandkids cry because they are hungry. Shortly after talking to her about this, our son, which is in the Army, told her some things that helped a lot, and he confirmed what I had told her.
It must have made sense to her because shortly afterwards she came to me and said she agreed that we should increase all our supplies like food, personal hygiene, simple medical supplies, and clothes. I built two large cabinets (4’x6-1/2’x3’ and 3’x6-1/2’x3’) for our back room which helped, but still need more room now. She even suggested other things that we should have on hand in case of any type of disaster or collapse. We are now probably able to go for over a year without buying groceries, toothpaste, and etc, and even though, none of the signs that we talked about have taken place, they are still there, and I feel that it has helped her to understand that it is very important for me, as a husband and father, to be able to take care of my family, what ever the circumstance might be. I have since expanded and explained my new goals to my wife and why I want to do certain things. She is now 100% behind me. It is so great to finally be on the same page and watching our survivability increase almost weekly.
Pistolshooter
www.alpharubicon.com
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