We had been cooped up all day due to rainy
weather. When my weatherman husband left
for work that day he said he needed to go in to “watch” the storms. I knew there was a threat of tornados, or other severe weather, but I assumed it wasn't going to be too bad.
After a short nap, play and snack time, we packed up
for a quick trip to the library. We visited the children’s area first. The nice librarian let Anderson pick out a
book to keep for her first birthday and took our picture. I grabbed a book and we slowly walked our way
to the checkout area. Anderson was starting to walk and wanted to walk everywhere because of her newfound skills. This was great, as I love to see her learn and
develop; however it also means our trips take about twice as long.
And those extra minutes quickly ticked away, while the weather outside was getting worse. When we got to the checkout counter a weather report was read over the intercom. It informed us that a tornado watch had been issued and we all needed to take cover. Looking outside I could tell it was bad out. The rain was pouring down and it was pitch black at 4:00 pm.
You would think being the spouse of a meteorologist I
would know what was going on. But what I’ve
quickly learned is that I’m usually one of the last people to know what’s going
on, especially now that JC is the Chief Meteorologist. When the bad weather is rolling through JC is
on air telling everyone else to take cover, while I’m trying to handle a baby,
80 pound dog and figure out what’s going on with the weather on my own. It may seem easy to just click on the TV, but those of us who are Moms know that there are about a million distractions that can keep us from knowing what exactly is being said on the screen.
Normally I do get a quick text from him telling us
to go "take cover", but I hadn’t heard from him all day, and I wasn’t aware
things had gotten so bad out.
Anderson and I gathered up our books and walked to
the "severe weather" corner of the library with the rest of the patrons at the city public library. While we waited Miss A was showing off, holding up her book
for everyone to see, before she got bored and wanted to walk around. Thankfully, we were allowed to make our
escape about 15 minutes after taking cover.
This was likely just before she got tired of the new adventure and threw a fit. We raced to the car through the rain. I quickly placed her in her car seat and jumped in the back seat to buckle her in. By the time we got home I was drenched, but Anderson was fairly dry -- and we were both very happy to be home.
Growing up in the Midwest the storms are fairly
common, so when severe weather comes it isn’t something that panics me. It is somewhat normal because I’ve always had
to deal with it. 
Now being a Mother, and the only one responsible for
our safety at home during severe weather and winter weather, I will be much
more diligent about knowing what’s going on after this incident. Anderson and I were fine at the library. The tornadoes were not close to us there, or
at our house, but this was a big lesson for me.
I have to make sure I stay better informed for our safety. As parents we all wear different hats to keep our family unit together. For me, this means I have to be informed and keep everything together while Dad is out informing the rest of Central Illinois.
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