Fire drill

And what must the neighbors think this time?

"Oh those weird Kazels. What are they doing now? It's not even daylight and they've got their kids outside. And with no coats!"

What were we doing? Fulfilling yet another homework assignment for one of our kids. By having a fire drill. As part of fire prevention week, AJ and his classmates were each supposed to practice with their families, what to do in the event of fire.

We'd talked with the kids ahead of time, quizzing them on what to do. We decided our mailbox would be a good meeting place. Next, we talked through some scenarios:

• What if they heard the alarm and didn't have shoes on? (Answer: forget shoes and just get out of the house.)
• What if they it was really cold and they didn't have their coat on? (Answer: forget the coat and just get out of the house.)  
• What if the fire is by the front door and you can't get outside that way? (Answer: use a different door or a window.)

Then the tough one: What if Gus was running around the couch and didn't come when they called? Both kids insisted, "We have to get Gus!" It took more talking, but finally we convinced them to not worry about Gus. Mommy or Daddy would get him. Their job was to yell to everyone else and then head outside to the mailbox.

At last they were ready. More specifically, we had to send the signed slip back by Wednesday saying we'd practiced, and so we just had to get it done. Wednesday morning, we woke the kids as usual, helped them dress and got them set at the table eating breakfast. They didn't note the oddness that we'd told them to put their shoes on, or that Daddy had Gus's leash in hand.

As they started to eat, Jeff snuck into Sydney's room and hit the test button on her smoke detector. Loud, piercing beeps rang out.

Wonderful surprise - there was no panic. Maybe it's because they've been through drills at school. Very calmly, AJ slid out of his chair and headed for the door. Sydney looked confused for a moment but quickly caught on and followed her brother.

Nobody yelled "Fire" to notify everyone else. We probably should work on that. Instead, AJ called out the most important instruction of all from his first grader point of view.

"One line! Get in ONE LINE!"

Out the door we headed. AJ was in the lead with Sydney close behind. I was next, followed by Jeff and AJ. We were almost to the mailbox when Sydney made the observation I was dreading.

"We didn't get Spike."

"That's okay," I told her. "We got Gus."

Amazingly, she let it go at that and changed the subject. "I didn't get a bite of my Cocoa Puffs."

"You can eat them as soon as we go back inside. You guys did a really good job. Let's go back in the house."

Back at the breakfast table, Sydney brought up the cat again, "Why didn't Spike come outside?"

"I just knew she didn't really want to come outside. The firefighters would find her."

How do you explain to a four-year-old that in the event of fire, the odds of survival wouldn't be too good for an 18-year-old cat that hangs out in the basement to avoid the dog, tends to hide when scared and is - I suspect - deaf and going blind?

Let's just hope our newly learned evacuation skills are never put to the test.