Making Sure Your Kids Are Safe

We had another topic standing in the on-deck circle waiting to be featured in this week's edition of GT Patch "Moms Talk."

Then something unusual happened Tuesday afternoon.

In case you missed it, there was an East Coast earthquake. A pretty strong one, too. With a 5.8 magnitude near its epicenter in north Virginia, tremors were felt all the way up in Massachusetts, according to reports.

The East Coast doesn't get strong earthquakes, many of us thought.

Wrong.

These days—who can tell what's coming next? These past few years have delivered the wackiest, deadliest natural disasters in my 34-plus years on planet Earth.

There were tornadoes in Massachusetts earlier this year. Now, an earthquake hits Virginia.

Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Blizzards. Earthquakes. Tsunamis.

So, where are we going with this?

This week, GT Patch asks our parent readers: Do you have an emergency plan in place for your home? Have you told your children what to do in the event of any of the many disasters that can strike, including fires? If so, please share some of the not-so-obvious tips you think are most important for kids to know and how you make sure they understand.

Editor's Note: Moms Talk is a feature on GloucesterTownship.Patch.com that aims to reach out to and bring together moms and families.

GloucesterTownship.Patch.com invites you and your circle of friends to help build a community of support for mothers and their families right here in Gloucester Township.

Each week in Moms Talk, our Moms Council of experts and smart moms take your questions, give advice and share solutions, utilizing the comment box below.

Moms, dads, grandparents and the diverse families who make up our community will have a new resource for questions about local neighborhood schools, the best pediatricians, 24-hour pharmacies and the thousands of other issues that arise while raising children.

Moms Talk will also be the place to drop in for a talk about the latest parenting hot topic.

So grab a cup of coffee and settle in as we start the conversation today—and every Wednesday!—at 1 p.m. Be sure to invite your friends, too.