I sometimes wonder at the seeming scarcity of female preppers and survivalists. My theory is that there are lots of them, just not labeling themselves as such. In fact, I didn’t always identify this way myself. I simply went about my daily life the way I was taught as a child and then incorporating what I learned along the way.

Women, especially those with families, do so much that they don’t even really think about. We plan meals, stock medicine cabinets, buy the seasonally appropriate clothes for our families. We keep budgets and put away a little something “for a rainy day”. Mothers carefully pack the diaper bag with all the things our little one may need while we’re out. Older kids get supervision in packing the backpack for the day. We think ahead constantly so that our loved ones will have what they need. This is the basic essence of preparedness.

For me, and maybe for you, there are always the “what if” worries. What if the power goes out? What if there is a blizzard, hurricane or whatever, and we are stuck in the house for days? What if there’s a fire? What if the car breaks down? Most of us are at least aware of whatever dangers or crises may happen to our families. We can’t protect everyone from everything all the time. But, we sure can try.

As we become more aware of how fragile our way of life actually is, we can try to prepare in better ways to meet the challenges we could face. A depressed economy. Unemployment. Rising crime. Terrorism. We are inundated with all these uncertainties daily. We see from events like Hurricane Katrina and the Japanese earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown that government agencies that people DEPEND upon are slow and inefficient at providing the help many people EXPECT.

It is in these realizations that a rational person starts to plan and prepare in better ways for more possibilities. If this is the way you are thinking, planning and living, then you are learning the preparedness lifestyle. You are a prepper, even if you don’t call yourself one.