We’re pretty lucky to live in an area with a stable grid. It’s very rare for us to lose power, and the longest we’ve been without it has been 6 hours or so. No biggie for seasoned pros like myself- but pure torture for my kids, trust me.
Now, we do have a generator for long term power outages, and I really recommend that people who can afford to, have one also. But, no one I know, pulls out the generator for a couple hours.
So to be prepared for short outages we have a few different things laying around the house.
First – we have a our flashlight drawer- in here we have multiple types of flashlights and lanterns. Some band new in package still because my kids are rough on rigging and I believe in backups. Conveniently enough, this drawer is directly above the battery and charger cord drawer.
Next we have our collection of kerosene lanterns and candles- these are more for aesthetic but they all function and are pretty. They’ve come to us from yard sales and big box store clearance aisles.
We also have the stick to your wall, flip switch emergency lights in a couple places- like our bathroom. We placed them up high and shining into mirrors to get the most out of them. We got these ones on Amazon years ago.
We stick them to the walls with the command strips and they haven’t budged in the entire 5 years we’ve had them, except to show the kids that they had batteries.
And finally we have – glow sticks! They’re fun for the kids. They don’t work so well for day time outages, but for winter time when it’s dark at 4, these are a hit with the youngins.
The eventual goal is to be completely off the grid with our electric needs- but That’s a whole ‘nother blog.
Until next time, have a wicked good day!
Gillis Gardens, LLC 