Prepare? How?

Living in a remote area requires a regular "stocking up" on pantry items and other regularly used supplies. Being prepared for situations that come up is a necessary part of remote living; it's essential. Now it is becoming essential for everyone, no matter where they live. Looking back on my first feeble attempts at preparing for winter make me laugh. Believe it or not, I have learned a thing or two since those early days as a "townie" girl bride staring in awe at her country boy husband making a list for our first winter preparations. 

"Prepping, preparing, stocking up, putting by", WHATEVER you want to call it, has gained enormous popularity in the past decade or so. It has also made a lot of people a lot of money selling how to videos, books, and guides. My voice being added to the conversation will probably not revolutionize anyone's life, but experience is a good teacher, and it would be selfish to keep helpful information to myself. If someone, anyone, can glean something useful here, it's worth sharing. 

Having once been a "townie", I remember how strange and mysterious this "stocking up" seemed to me all of those many years ago. Over three decades later I now know the only "mystery" about it was in the fact that it was foreign and new to me, completely outside of my then 19-20 years of life's experience. At 52 years of age, I  now am a seasoned stocker-upper who can make a yearly stocking up list with the best of them. As they say, wonders never cease. Who knew I was capable of ever reaching such a point? Certainly not my 20 year-old self that first winter of married life.

Preparation. How is it done? What do you do? How do you know what to buy? Where do you buy it all? What does it look like for you? Where do you store it all? How? 

What is it? Preparation is being prepared. For me preparation starts with thinking. Thinking? Yes, thinking. I sit down with a cup of something hot to drink, a notebook to write in, a pencil to write with, and think. In my thoughts I travel through the year considering and remembering what went well and what was lacking. Did we stock too much of this and not enough of that? What items are gone and what are still left? What did we need/want and not have? Did we have enough toilet paper? Have the kids matured out of certain things? What worked. What didn't. On and on I think. 

As I think, I take notes. In my notes I jot down those things that I think were a good idea as well as those that weren't. I also write down any questions I want to ask the rest of the family about their preferences, opinions, and other thoughts pertaining to items I put on the coming year's list. I double-check sizes, favorite colors, styles, and so on. For instance, this year I have been asking my youngest son if he has grown out of any of the toys in his room because sometimes purging unused items is as much a part of the year's preparations as stocking up is. Frequently we have to get rid of something to make room for something new.

Considering everything that needs to be figured out before the final list is made doesn't take a lot of time. However I have found it works best if I allow a bit of time to pass between the actual thinking session and the final group list making so that thoughts and ideas concerning next year's needs/wants can percolate a little bit. We seem to have less "wrong" items purchased by including this wiggle room for further consideration in the process. This gives me space to listen with my spirit instead of my mind where God Holy Spirit can impress upon my spirit those things He knows we will need in the upcoming months.

At this point, preparation becomes a joint effort between husband, wife, and the children. Several of us have been making lists. Whenever works best for everyone involved, we all grab our individual lists and make the official list for the year. If there are differing opinions, we share our individual thoughts and reach a decision that everyone has peace about. Some of us are extreme detail people while a few of us are big picture folk. We are all most definitely real people in our family however, and almost always there are misunderstandings as to what someone said or meant. In the end a list is made. Now that I think about it, hearing aids would be a great asset in these sessions. Maybe I should add them to the list.

Prices are sometimes written on the individual lists prior to the joint session. Other years we make the list then compare prices from a variety of sources. If a year contains more money than time, we focus on convenience and good prices; if money is tight, we save as much as we can in as many ways as we can. Some years physical limitations have needed to be taken into consideration for the year's food prep. Every year is it's own experience requiring different considerations to be made. This is another reason why thinking the year through before making a list saves so much time and eliminates a ton of hassles. 

Obtaining the items on our list looks different each year. During the early years of our marriage we would watch for sales on canned goods at area grocery stores. When discount warehouses came a few hours away, we were often able to find lower prices and a larger selection of goods there. Now that internet shopping is available, shopping from home has resulted in significant savings of both time and finances. Getting the goods needed for the year isn't the end of preparing however. Everything needs a place to live during its time in the home. We take this into consideration during our joint list making session. 

Obviously, this is the way our family prepares. Every one has to prepare in the way that works best for them. Not everyone is a list person. We prefer using a list as it enables us to brain dump on paper and use our mental energy elsewhere. We also save our list and use it as a baseline for next year's planning session. In a way, it's kind of fun to compare one year from another. How you do it isn't what's important; that you do is. Enjoy the freedom having what you need/want on hand provides. Freedom is a good thing, in whatever form is takes.