Survival Mom: How to Prepare Your Family for Everyday Disasters and Worst-Case Scenarios

By Lisa Bedford

Review by Shelly Burke, Editor
(This review appeared in the March issue of the "Nebraska Family Times" newspaper. For more information, go to www.nebraskafamilytimes.blogspot.com. For a FREE sample copy of the "Nebraska Family Times," e-mail your address to: shelly@shellyburke.net.)

I think it’s every mom’s greatest desire to protect and care for her family no matter the circumstances. Here in Nebraska we’re more likely to face hardship from a tornado or flood rather than a civil uprising, but author and mom Lisa Bedford provides information to help prepare for the more common events as well as the ones we hope we’ll never have to face—but be ready for after reading Survival Mom.

Survival Mom is a comprehensive guide that includes information ranging from “13 Ways to Prepare for Hyperinflation” to detailed checklists for preparing everyone in the family for evacuation—even grandma and pets. As I was reading the information on preparing for evacuating from home, I thought back to something that happened when I was about eight years old. I woke up in the middle of the night to see one of my gradeschool friends and her family in our home. A train had derailed in town and a hazardous chemical had spilled, and everyone in the town was evacuated (we lived in the country at that time). We can’t anticipate what circumstances might make it necessary to leave town—but we can be prepared.

The prospect of becoming completely prepared for any eventuality can be overwhelming. Bedford makes the task less daunting by outlining “baby steps;” if you’re not ready to store enough food to last your family for several months, begin by stocking up enough to last for two weeks.

Bedford gives plenty of practical information that moms will appreciate, like safety lessons for kids and how to prepare them to react to a medical emergency. She tells moms how they can easily increase their own (and by extension their family’s) safety and security in everyday situations.

Whether you want to begin grinding your own grain or making your own cheese, or just learn how to make your family’s favorite meals with easily-stored food you can then always have on hand, you’ll find the information presented in a way that makes it easy to do just that. Checklists, sample forms, and step-by-step instructions make preparing for any eventuality seem doable rather than overwhelming.

Whether you live with your spouse and kids, an aging parent, or by yourself, after reading Survival Mom you’ll be ready to at least begin to take the steps to be prepared for anything from losing electricity for a few days (or longer) to a natural disaster to a pandemic to a decrease in work hours or loss of a job. Bedford also blogs at www.thesurvivalmom.com.