An earthquake. Kids. Oh my.
I live in Southern California, have my whole life, so the word earthquake has been in my vocabulary only a slightly shorter time than the word milk.
I don’t even remember learning the word, but I do remember being at preschool when I was three, and being told what to do in case of an earthquake. ”Kids,” my teacher would command as we crouched under our tiny desks and covered our tiny ears with our elbows, “in the event of an earthquake, kids must hide under the desks and don’t come out until the earth stops shaking.
It’s a memory I haven’t thought of in years, but yesterday I had good reason to recall.
As we’ve already discussed, we’re all connected, so I’m sure anyone reading this already knows that Southern California was struck yesterday by an earthquake. Kids are fine, don’t worry, though at the time it happened, Daisy and I happened to be dancing with the children. The music was loud, the toddlers were thumping their feet on the floor, and for a second, neither of us were completely sure what we thought might be happening, actually was.
Our eyes met and, without a single word exchanged (and only a single second elapsed since the first tremor), we both started clapping our hands and laughing.
I said, “You know what would be fun?” Miss Daisy said, “An earthquake drill!” So I yelled, “Earthquake!”
Kids started to scream,”Yay!” as each ran to his or her appointed spot.
Now I’m fairly certain most of you don’t really care to hear about the happenings of a nursery school that’s hundreds, if not thousands of miles away, but I promise, I have a point.
Our pre-school has drills every so often, not because we expect the worst, but because it would be negligent to live in California and not to be ready for an earthquake. Kids are wonderful in the way they’ll let you teach them just about anything, as long as you frame the lessons inside a game.
Every time we have a drill, that’s all it is: a game. One of us yells “Earthquake!”
Kids all scamper to their spots.
Even after it was over (the entire event, start to finish, lasted only seconds), the children had no idea that a real earthquake had just happened, and not one of them (except for Mia who is six and wise to our methods) even asked. They just thought they’d had what may have been the best dancing session the world had ever known.
So good, in fact, it moved the house and prompted a drill.
My point is this:
We can learn a lot from the way children learn and think. We should render the necessary drills and practices of our own lives into an equivalent amount of fun. Then, when life throws us an earthquake, kids inside us will be prepared and smiling while we face it.
About Sean Platt
I’m in Northern California so I can relate to the constant awareness that an earthquake is possible.
I am actually interested in your story more than I am in the lesson behind it. You handled it so well. And you wrote about it so well. You brought tears to my eyes!
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I’m in Northern California so I can relate to the constant awareness that an earthquake is possible.
I am actually interested in your story more than I am in the lesson behind it. You handled it so well. And you wrote about it so well. You brought tears to my eyes!
Vereds last blog post..Wordless Wednesday: Vintage Computers
What a great story. I’m just gald your dancing didn’t “bring down the house” literally.
Chase Marchs last blog post..Possible Titles
What a great story. I’m just gald your dancing didn’t “bring down the house” literally.
Chase Marchs last blog post..Possible Titles
I really get scared though..
I really get scared though..
Cool approach, and absolutely fantastic in the first place that the entire family was rockin’ out! We actually get little earthquakes here in Ottawa. Enough to slosh the water in the toilet bowl, and cause a slight sea sickness. I can’t imagine living with the threat of ‘the big one’. My fear is hurricanes. This was NEVER a consideration as a Canadian, except for some minor twisters in Southern Ontario. But then a huge hurricane ripped a path through Ontario in the mid 80s, devastating everything in its path, missing parents’ by mere miles.
Urban Panthers last blog post..Truly it’s all about making him happy
Cool approach, and absolutely fantastic in the first place that the entire family was rockin’ out! We actually get little earthquakes here in Ottawa. Enough to slosh the water in the toilet bowl, and cause a slight sea sickness. I can’t imagine living with the threat of ‘the big one’. My fear is hurricanes. This was NEVER a consideration as a Canadian, except for some minor twisters in Southern Ontario. But then a huge hurricane ripped a path through Ontario in the mid 80s, devastating everything in its path, missing parents’ by mere miles.
Urban Panthers last blog post..Truly it’s all about making him happy
Hi,
I wrote about the earthquake on my blog too. I live in Irvine, where are you? (Haven’t read your About page yet in case it’s on there.)
I love how you handled the children and kept them safe without scaring them in the least. Well done, and well written about, too.
Linda Abbits last blog post..We Interrupt This Regularly-Scheduled Eldercare Blog To Bring You . . . An Earthquake!
Hi,
I wrote about the earthquake on my blog too. I live in Irvine, where are you? (Haven’t read your About page yet in case it’s on there.)
I love how you handled the children and kept them safe without scaring them in the least. Well done, and well written about, too.
Linda Abbits last blog post..We Interrupt This Regularly-Scheduled Eldercare Blog To Bring You . . . An Earthquake!