Staying Entertained While Bugging In

Let's say you're bugged in during a plague. You and your loved ones are, "safe," and together, you have plenty of water, food, etc. But no power and you must stay in place as much as possible. How will you keep from going crazy?

Having ADHD, i count a huge library as one of my bug-in preps. I also have a dozen typewriters and a few cases of paper for them, and multiple battery powered light sources and a ton of candles. What about you?

 

Lol any favorites in your library?

 

I too have a pretty significant library. I have a passion for the Old West; probably from about the Civil War period, maybe 1840's to the early 1900's. I was able to make a significant increase to the library with the passing of a friend who was a history teacher, who had the same passion for the West. I think I have three or four good sized boxes of books I have not touched.

Definitely a good question to ask. I just wonder if SHTF how much down time would we really have? I'm sure there will be some, but will the day be consumed with everyday chores that we didn't have before? Chopping wood, boiling water, washing clothes et al by hand, preparing food and meals?

 

We have dvd's and some video games but also board games, cards, crayons, paper, glue, etc to help keep the kids entertained along with instruments and various balls and sports gear.

Living around a lot of Amish and Mennonites that live "off grid" and work their tales off they still take time down on Sunday especially but even in the evenings and other days you'll drive by a farm where they're having a gathering and the older kids are running around playing volleyball or badmitton younger kids doing jump rope and hop scotch... younger people are out fishing... and then a lot of women folk do baking and knitting, crotching etc as part of their "hobbies".

 

Lonewolf, from your posts I get it that your the hermit of the wood or wherever and you have zero interest in seeing to anyone outside of yourself. I get that and in a way it has to be great as it simplifies your needs and plans post SHTF. But dare I say for most of the rest of us we have people and family we care about and that we are responsible for. Often times this includes young children who's needs we are responsible to see after and who we need to teach and pass skills on to. If a kid isn't to grow up into some sort of antisocial psychopath post SHTF there needs to be things in their lives that are "childish". And these games are not all just "childish games" and the videos aren't just cartoons, are there some, yes but there are educational type ones also. Kids especially need some down time to be a kid and to have their minds not always in the here and now stressing them out; they need escapes be it in a book, game or activity.

As a father of 5 aged 16 to 2 1/2, those "childish games" will go a long way to keeping them entertained and their minds off what is blowing up around them, help my wife and I keep our sanity and gives us something to do that is "family time" besides working. And things that on the surface to them look like a game or just something fun can have a dual purpose and be teaching moments without them even realizing it. Things like craft projects - maybe they're learning to use 550 cord to braid/ weave a small survival bracelet. Once they have that skill they can apply it to different materials and items, maybe it's making a rifle sling from 550 or leather strap; there is leather working making a small item, maybe like a sheath or similar that the skill can later be used to make clothing or gear; I have put up some knife making kits for them so they learn how to build a knife; knot tying and lashings which can be made into a game; flash type cards with wildlife, edibles, etc on them that can be made into a game so they are entertained and learn; teaching them fire starting and then turning it to a race to see who can start a fire and burn some strings the fastest.

 

People need to have a way to relax and things that people do together makes their bonds stronger. Lonewolf you don't like people. We all understand that, but people that are going to live as a unit do better if when possible they let their hair down and participate in childish pastimes. The military knows this and that is why they offer these pastimes to their troops. The Identification cards they passed out for the most wanted in Iraq and such were on playing cards for a reason. I include a deck of cards and 6 dice in all my bug out bags.

I have a huge library with over 30,000 books. One of my preparations and plans is to use them as a lending library after the fall. When there is no TV or videos people will return to reading. I see the books as a resource. I also have most of the older childish board games and lots of dominoes.

When people live without pleasure they might as well be dead. I have a lot of hobbies that will be functional after the fall. I work with leather and am a wood carver. I will admit that most of my many "hobbies" have a useful function that will be even more than a hobby in a world without power. My knowledge, though some of it is childish, will serve me and those with me well in hard times.

If you have children you HAVE to provide them with opportunities to BE children. If you fail to do this you will live to regret it. Kids that are raised in constant fear become monsters when they grow up. they don't know how to relax and don't understand other people. Empathy is a learned behavior as are things like trust and morals. Kids play and learn how to work with others in their childish behavior. Their play is often them practicing adult activities.

 

Sometimes, especially during times of extreme prolonged stress and duress, the mind needs a break! When I was trapped among not-so-nice strangers during the Hurricane Katrina mess (in spite of well-laid plans), I craved mindless diversion in the midst of 24/7 hypervigilance. My mind desperately needed a break or else I would surely lose it...

I was so wound up on surviving looters and the people around me that I could NOT focus on a book...or much else. I found some relief by studying ants, of all things. I temporarily escaped my hell by watching ants haul food back to their nest and marveled at their orderly procession and communication skills... Somehow an hour or two of small mental breaks like this helped to bring a measure of order to my day.

Do not underestimate the power of seemingly trivial diversions. They are more vital than you would think! Interviews with POW and concentration camp survivors underscored this important truth. Some found it by watching insects as I did. The more fortunate ones enjoyed smuggled reading material, which was passed around and cherished as a much-needed diversion. Many found it in prayer, which I also found to be the most wonderful diversion of all.


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Lonewolf I see a very different future if the world as we know it ends. I have made a bit of a study into the lifestyles of various primitive people and the one thing that they all have in common is a lot of time on their hands. I don't mean to say that they are idle but they are not overburdened with work either.

People work in modern societies to earn money to buy things. What do you think there will be to buy in a world that has collapsed? Take farming for an example. How much of what a farmer grows do you think is for their use as food? Almost none is the answer. They plant and harvest huge plots of land mostly to pay the bills and buy more "things". I can grow more than my family can eat on about three acres. Gardening isn't like farming.

In a primitive society, people often make small time-consuming tasks into pleasures. Quilting while a necessary thing in a cool climate became a social thing. Barn raising and harvesting in general, while work-related, were also a time when people gathered and in general had a good time.

In colder places in the winter people had to stay inside a lot and games were a way to keep the mind active and the people entertained. Games are designed to be FUN. Fun isn't a waste of time. Basically, it is what keeps life from becoming drudgery.

A person's pleasures are dependent on that person, their natural abilities and their environment. My pleasure may be your waste of time but I'm sure that you have your pwn wastes of time that you enjoy. My Dad liked to mow and work in the yard. I absolutely detested it!! It was boring and a misery to me. I loved to read, write, write poetry and make things with my hands. Most of this was a stupid waste of time to him.

 

Have you lived or been in a situation where you are in constant stress? I mean hardcore stress like combat, high risk job or something like an extended flood/ hurricane situation? As I think Tex said, there is a reason the military has R&R and morale and Welfare things for the troops to "play" as you put it. If you don't you'll be eating a bullet or tying a bag around your head after a while. Check out some psych books on stress and what it does to a person if they don't take some down time. The old civil defense books even talked about this for people that would be in a bunker situation as they needed distractions to keep morale and sanity in check.

And again, in dealing with kids it's going to be extremely difficult, maybe even more so for the kids and teens of today. They are used to being plugged in or they have almost near instant ability to connect to their friends or to watch or look up literally anything on their phones or computers. Look at everything they have in their lives, the entire idea that it could all just suddenly go away, no way they can rationalize it. Hell 98% of the adult population can't so how can we expect teens or young children to. How do you explain to a 7 year old that the lights just went out and might never come back on in their lifetime?. They need some comfort items to help ground them, be it food, a toy, a book, whatever. That's one reason if you have to bug out with kids you're best not to expect they're going to eat freeze dried this or that or MRE's. Best to have a can of one of their favorites like ravioli/ spaghetti-O's/ Mac-n-Cheese, or whatever fav the kids in the UK enjoy. Again it keeps the stress down. This is why often in disaster situations aid groups will hand out teddy bears, dolls, balls, etc... This is why in their little bug out bags it's best to make room for their favorite stuffed animal or blanket or whatever.

Kids aren't hardened combat Marines. I'd almost guarantee that if you think you yourself can live at a maximum stress level, work nearly round the clock, day in and day out, indefinitely you are going to find yourself sick or dead in short order. And really how long it takes will also be impacted by a persons current level of health and ability to handle and deal with stress in their lives currently.