ksl.com article: What would you save if your home was about to be destroyed?

I had this article published on ksl.com today. It appeared on the main page and was classified as a "Mommy Moments" article. It has to do with a story that involves Luke & Halle so I thought Luke might enjoy reading it down the road :).

SALT LAKE CITY — If you were faced with the challenge of having to choose a couple items from your home to take with you before it was about to be destroyed in a major catastrophe, what would you take? And if you are a parent, how would the needs of your kids effect your decision?

I find it interesting that once we become parents putting our children’s needs above our own becomes so natural. We go into a sort of auto pilot caring for our kids first and foremost, which most of us happily do, and often forget our own wants or needs in the process.

With the onset of winter I am reminded of an experience I had last year that exemplifies this.

One morning in the cold, dead of winter I woke up at about 7 a.m. and found myself a bit chillier than usual. After pulling myself out of bed I immediately went to check the thermostat. Sure enough, it read 65 degrees. Much too cold for my taste.

So I cranked up the temperature, and waited and waited, but nothing happened. Then I started to notice a funny smell. Soon, I recognized what the smell was: natural gas. Oh no! I remember thinking, "What if my house blows up?"

I hurried and rushed to awaken my kids and got them out of bed. Of course to my luck, my car was in the shop for a repair and my husband had gone to work very early that morning and was a 30-minute drive away with our only running vehicle. So I called up my mom who lives relatively close to come to our rescue. In the meantime I phoned my husband who immediately left work and called Questar to meet him at our house.

My mom arrived before anyone else, so we quickly loaded the kids into the car and were on our way. We got about halfway to her house when I realized something. I hadn’t gotten anything out of our house but my kids and the clothes on our backs. What if our house was really to burn down or blow up? We wouldn’t have anything!

I relayed my concerns to my mom who agreed I should call my husband, who was probably at the house by now, and tell him to grab a few things and put them in his car and make sure to park it outside the house JUST IN CASE.

So I rang up my husband and got him on the line. Sure enough, he was in the basement with the inspector from Questar making sure the gas lines were intact.

“Okay,” I said to him. “I left the house with the kids and nothing but their car seats and the clothes we are wearing. So I am wondering if you can grab a few things in case the house, you know … blows up.”

Pause on his end. “Uhhh, OK, I think it’s very unlikely that our house is going to blow up. But if it would make you feel better I can grab a couple things.”

A flood of relief ran through my body. “Okay, great.”

“So what do you want me to get?” he asked.

I quickly replied, “The kids' favorite blankets!”

My request was followed with an even longer pause.

“The kids' blankets?” he repeated, sounding a bit dumbfounded.

“Yeah, you know how hard it is to get them happy and settled down to go to sleep at night if they don’t have their favorite blankets!”

Still a pause.

I continued, “Their blankets are very important to them, their favorite things in the whole world. So first things first, we need those blankets!”

“OK,” he responded. “Whatever you say. So what else?”

“Ummm…” and then my mind drew a total blank. What else could we need? In all honesty, I hadn’t really thought past the kids' blankets.

“Well…” I replied. Then my mind started working. “It might be good to grab our external hard drive so we don’t lose all of our pictures and stuff. Yes, definitely grab that. Oh and maybe my laptop, it has all my work stuff on it.”

Other than that, I couldn’t think of anything else. Really, what else could we really have needed? My iPod with all my beloved music or my Martin guitar I saved up for in high school or even my favorite boots I paid way too much for didn’t make the cut.

When you’re a parent faced with a moment of crisis, not much else is needed other than the item your child can’t live — or sleep — without. Their wants and needs supersede ours, which is the way it should be. (But while you’re at it, it probably wouldn’t hurt to save the device that stores all your family memories.)

By the way, our house wasn’t anywhere near blowing up. The heater just needed a little repair. But you never can be too careful, right?

It taught me a valuable lesson, nonetheless. When it comes down to it, our needs are actually pretty simple. And in the end, the needs of our children are what matter most. Oh yeah, and to always have the kids' blankets close at hand.