Wednesday, February 19, 2014

In case of Emergency

We are living in an era where it's trendy to think about the apocalypse. Planning what you'd do against zombies, figuring out how much water you might need in the event of a major earthquake, honing basic survival skills... all of it is something I've talked about with someone or other over the last year.

Know what's hard? Filling out the "In Case of Emergency" card for my toddlers. There is no one in my city that could really claim my children from daycare in the event of an appocalypse. Everyone is far away (farther away than I typically am at work), no one has car seats for them, and they aren't anyone else's top priority. We've had this damn card sitting on the counter for a month, trying desperately to figure out who we could possibly call on in the event of an emergency to retrieve and care for our little children.

Do you know that (in California?) you have to have kids in car seats, or booster seats, until they are 8 years old. Legally anyway. That means that unless we knew someone who had easy access to two spare car seats, and had space in their car for them, we are SOL.

Having children when isolated from our own family is really really taxing. And not just in that "I don't have an easy and free babysitter" sense. For things like this too. There is no one else in my city authorized to pick up my children. No one to call in case of emergency.

Ok, so maybe you are going to argue with me and tell me that in an emergency, we can ignore the laws and let someone without carseats pick the kids up. But who? Who is out there that is capable of watching two little kids that doesn't have their own to deal with? Friend networks are great for being my "created family" in most ways, but not really in the child care thing. There is no village for my kids. I don't know how to ask that of anyone and I don't know anyone who has felt like stepping up.

This is the crap that I worry about that never gets resolved. That keeps me up at night. That makes parenthood the hardest job there is.