Who is your ‘in case of an emergency’ contact?

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Did you grow up in DC or the surrounding areas? DC is such a transient city. We moved here over 11 years ago and only knew a few people when we first arrived. But now so many of the people that we have met in DC our now like our family. My parents are back home in Texas where my sister and brother live with their families. My husband’s family is in California where one of his brothers and his family live. Unfortunately both places are pretty far away from us. Yes, my family and my husband’s family come to visit often and we go visit them but it is not the same as having your family very close by. I sometimes wish they were able to come to that very special school performance, or a soccer game, or see the kids when they get home from school.  Or more importantly help pick the kids up if someone else is sick or needs to go to the doctor or whatever the case may be. With three little kids there is always something!      

Most parents they are able to put family members down as their ‘In case of man Emergency’ but in our case, we have to use friends as our emergency contact person. Luckily we have never had to use our ’emergency contact’ (knock on wood) but I have had my fair share of favors called in to friends! And our friends are always so helpful and available. Mainly because I feel that everyone around here knows what it is like not to have family close by. We are all in the same position in the DC area. We are so lucky that we have such an amazing community and have met some wonderful friends and neighbors at school. Building a community that is trustworthy enough to be the emergency contact takes time and I am so grateful we now have it!

When I asked my friends if they would be our emergency contact they were happy to! And we were able to confidently tell the kids that if anything happened, that the emergency contact also has permission to help out our family if needed. Creating this open line of communication has helped make sure we are all on the same page. 

Over time as families start to grow they tend to move closer to their family members. Having the comfort of a parent or sibling nearby is very important to some. I know that is the case with a number of my friends and support their decision to move closer to family, but we miss them! We love living in DC, but the only thing missing is family! Thankfully we have our friends. Now, if only I could convince my parents or in laws to move to DC. I think I will keep working on that one.