Columbia River, I know how it is to come home from work and have to prepare all that food at night. I have been there. work job from 8am to 6pm just to get home and see all that canning waiting for me. Hubby was retired so that helped as he had everything prepped and ready for me to get the canning done. I sometimes look back on those days and wonder where I got all that energy from. Not sure I could do it now. But retirement does make it easier.
One big reason I started prepping is because of my son in law. He was good for quiting a job because he got mad or didn’t like someone. He did that 3 times before he found a job he likes. He had the idea that he should start at top and then work way down. Doesn’t work that way. So during those times I was feeding that whole family. Him, my daughter and 3 children with youngest being an infant. Plus my daughter could not stay in one place for long. Living in a house was like 3 years and she was ready to move again. So the 2 oldest grandchildren would be pulled to different schools. I even had to buy school clothes and supplies for the kids. That was not cheap for 3 children. So after doing this for so long. I started prepping for hard times such as this as those were tough years. My daughter went to work and only changed jobs once. She got a good one. Her husband got the idea that if he quit his job again he was on his own and had his wife to deal with. So he has come a long way and staying with this last job. I threatened my daughter about moving around and pulling kiddos out of school to start in a new one. So I made it clear that she better land in this new house and keep kids in one school system. It worked and the youngest has been in the same school system from the start. The oldest changed schools 4 times and the middle one 3 times. It’s hard for children to have to pull up and start over with new friends all the time. Though I no longer an prepping to keep my kids afloat, I do still prep for hurricanes and what ever else happens. I have been known a time or two to help a neighbor out when their luck was down. Guess that is what it is all about.