Prepping Your Spouse for a Preparedness Lifestyle

Most preppers are probably familiar with the sideways looks and awkward situations that arise when they tell others of their emergency plans and readiness.

When that skepticism comes from within the immediate family, things become much more complex.  Convincing a stranger or a neighbor of the worthiness of your preparations is one thing, but explaining intents, concerns and reasons to your husband or wife is a totally different task.

Bringing up the subject of prepping and getting a spouse or other immediate family member on board isn’t a simple process.  It takes a delicate hand in order to make sure that your spouse believes in the merits of your concerns and doesn’t think that you’ve “gone off your rocker.”

Here are some suggestions on how to handle the situation, and how to work towards preparing every loved one you care about.

Have a meeting

Planning a meeting is an important part of getting your spouse involved with your emergency plan.  It is vital for both partners to sit down together and create a unified plan that will be a mutual benefit.

Start with the small picture

When talking with your spouse about emergency preparedness, it is important to start off with a short informal meeting that discusses why preparing is an important part of your overall family plan.  Once this meeting comes to an end and your spouse is at least tentatively interested in or accepting of the idea, ask them to come up with ideas for the next meeting on food, water, shelter.  By working together it becomes more about the mutual benefit to each other and less about “your opinion.”

Have you found strength in numbers? https://t.co/A8xDpv8rml pic.twitter.com/vjU3veVpJM

— Survival Life (@SurvivalLF) August 15, 2016

Never use scare tactics

When talking to your spouse avoid being overly vivid about the “What ifs” that are out there. Instead of talking about nuclear fallout or the “zombie apocalypse,” talk about historical events (floods, storms, riots, food shortages, etc.), or even much more close to home instances such as job loss. Using rational circumstances will help to remove doubts and stigmas about prepping. This will help the both of you come up with a sensible plan  regardless of if  your plan is to “Bug Out” or “Bug In.”

Keep it fun

Instead of making your preparations an annoying chore, plan fun activities as a part of your emergency preparation training.  Go on camping trips, plant a garden, take survival oriented classes together, go to your local pistol & rifle range, go hunting, go shopping, or take an emergency medical course together. If you make your preps an activity and not a chore it will not only lighten the mood around prepping, but may also strengthen the bond that you share.

Rest assured

Having both partners fully up to speed with emergency preparations will protect both of you from being ill-prepared should your partner be incapacitated or otherwise unavailable. In a crisis, communications will most likely be the first utility to vanish.  Freeways become parking lots, and reaching your loved ones might become an impossible notion. Having a plan that both spouses know will give you peace of mind knowing that if something goes wrong, your spouse will be able to take charge and know what they need to do and where they need to go in order to be safe.

If you approach your spouse using the above tips you will hopefully be able to convince them that your preparations are not in vain and maintain that you are not crazy (which you are not).  If you have your significant other onboard with you during your preps it will make surviving that much easier.  I would love to hear any other tips that you may have for involving your spouse in your preps!

What have you done to get your spouse and family on board with preparedness? Let us know in the comments!

from SurvivalLife http://survivallife.com/prepping-your-spouse-for-a-preparedness-lifestyle/