I have been prepping since preY2k...

being a single mom of 4 kids(3 now one has passed) and the situation that lead me to move north..I got caught with my pants down a few times..when kids and I moved north we had nothing except for what we could fit in the car..we slept on the floors with a few blankets in a rented town house until i could get beds,we ate breakfast cereal out of coffee cups,until I could afford a set of dishes...it took time and strategy to get things back to normal for me and the kids...and then times would hit when the car would break down or something would come and leave us short of funds for food and when I had extra I would put away the essentials..now years down the road I won a home and have some preps put away(was going to sell the house last summer and move to Ottawa,as there are no jobs here, but I managed to secure employment and that has helped me to keep the house)

If I had to choose only one thing to prep for it would be major pandemic..all of the other scenarios in a basic list of what are you prepping for can be controlled by man in some way or another..a pandemic,yes can be released from a lab and be man created,but once is out there it cannot be stopped by man at all..oh yes there is weather also that cannot be controlled by man,but that is usually local...pandemic would be worldwide

it does not take much to add pandemic insurance to your list of preps..

@ Kelee877 -I am very sorry for your loss of your child. Secondly, welcome to this site. I, too, am a single Mom.
@ Mamaizzy - I am very sorry for your loss as well.....it's the ultimate loss.
I have experienced similar situations as you: orphaned at a young age, nasty divorce (single Mom of young children), widowed when my second husband got cancer.........well you know. We try to protect our children first and foremost and PREPARE for them. I truly understand what it's like to see my children suffer and not be able to have what others their age have. I too am concentrating on reinforcing my food cache so we don't go hungry....

Wow so many have gone through so much.

Dumb question - when I was young we had nothing so my mom would make all our clothes, unlike today there were no reuse or second hand stores to get them. Do you see to try to make sure the kids "fit in" that way by sewing preps as well as food preps?

Actually, when my daughter wanted to go to the Prom a few years ago, we both knew that we couldn't afford the "Prom dresses" sold out there.....so I made it! My daughter picked all the material and she had the most unique dress of all her friends. Most importantly, she didn't feel left out or poor.
These days, 'retro' is IN a.k.a. second hand clothes LOL. It's wise to have some clothing for "future reference" in storage.....I have some clothes that I still wear that are decades old! Hey if it still fits and is still useful then why get rid of it?

.....and speaking of Single Parenting and prepping, check out this excellent blog post: "Predator or Prey: The Single Parent Survival Guide"
http://survivalblog.com/2012/04/predator-or-prey-the-single-parent-survival-guide-by-sarah-b.html

Kelee877 & Mamaizzy - my heart goes out to both of you - I'm sorry for your loss!