Living here in Texas means having to be prepared for serious weather events and sometimes natural disasters. Hurricanes, floods and fires can leave people with little time to get out of their homes and get to safety. Texas has also had other calamitous events like mass shootings and the failure of the electrical grid in the middle of winter.
If your family has had an emergency plan in place, that can be upended by divorce. That’s why it’s crucial as you and co-parent are negotiating the various divorce agreements to make sure that you’re as prepared as possible for an emergency situation, regardless of whose home your kids may be in when the unexpected happens. Let’s look at some important things to focus on.
Emergency provisions in both homes
If you and your co-parent will have joint managing conservatorship (JMC), it’s important for your children to have go-bags in both homes. You’ll want one for any pets who move with the kids between homes . It’s also crucial to have enough provisions (food, water, first-aid supplies and medications) in both homes in case you’re stuck there for awhile.
Contact and meet-up information
Both parents need contact information for family (on both sides) and others whom you may need to contact – including schools, daycare facilities, doctors and vets. It’s smart to have this on paper someplace where it’s easy to find in addition to on your phone and computer in case you can’t use those.
You also need to determine whether you need a new reunification site (assuming you already have one). This can be crucial if you’re separated in a disaster and can’t contact one another. Regardless of whatever disagreements and negative feelings you and your co-parent have, you can agree that you’re still a family and that the safety and well-being of your children come before everything else.
It’s important to review the new emergency preparedness plan with your children. This will help them be better prepared. It will also help reassure them that you’re both committed to your joint role as their parents. It can be a good idea to add this to your parenting plan as you put that in place.
