Weather Up & Down? How To Prevent Your Kids From Getting Sick

Mother Nature has menopause, here in the Northeast, and I am NOT complaining! In a state that saw Hurricane Sandy and some significant snow storms as early as mid-October, we are LOVING the 70 degree weather we've had this week. Still, we did have colder temps last week and more seasonal weather is on the horizon.

So how can you keep kids healthy in the face of Mother Nature's mood swings?

 Here are some tips:

 

 

1.  Dress them in layers. It can be 40 when they leave for school and 65 when they get out. Plus, they have recess for a good hour in the middle of the day. Layers are essential so they can adjust their clothing with the temps. My daughter wears a camisole top, then a short-sleeved shirt, and carries a little jacket. She dons leggings which she rolls up to form shorts in case she's too warm.

2.  Pack back-up gear in the car. I carry an extra, slightly heavier jacket for her in the trunk and gloves just in case the weather is significantly colder at pick-up. I also stock blankets in the back seat so she can bundle up in the mornings while we're waiting for the car's heat to go on.  My 15-year old?  He's on his own.

3.  Make sure the kids are hydrated. This would go without saying, but when I ask my kids how much they drink, they usually tell me they forgot to fill up their reusable water bottles. I carry bottled water they can grab as I taxi them around (or in the case of my son, seltzer) so I can watch them drink water.

 4.  Watch them take their vitamins in the morning. Just today, my son found his multi-vitamin on the table where he'd forgotten to eat it at breakfast-time. Watching him take his vitamin would have ensured he'd had the proper amount of nutrients to combat germs during the day.  Oops.

5.  Keep hand sanitizer out in the entryway when they get home and remind them to use it. Kids are not the best hand-washers and in the course of the school day, they've touched lots of surfaces that have been sneezed and coughed on. Reminding them to clean their hands when they first walk in the door, especially before they eat, will keep germs at minimum. 

Using these tips, I'm hoping no one gets sick for quite a while and that their immune systems are able to fend off the latest strain of cold/flu.

Warm weather is fun – being sick is not. Stack the odds that YOUR kids will remain healthy.

Thanks for reading!!!

In Honor Of World Health: Improve Your Health IMMEDIATELY With This

It's World Health Day which means lots of articles on diet and nutrition. Okay, but those can take some time to render an affect on your body. 

There's something your can do RIGHT NOW to avoid getting sick and spreading germs:

LEARN HOW TO PROPERLY WASH YOUR HANDS

Washing Your Hands IMMEDIATELY Reduces Your Chances Of Getting Sick!

Hopefully, this is something you do every day, but are you doing it to maximize the amount of germ killing you're doing? Here are some tips to remember:

WHEN TO WASH YOUR HANDS

Before:

• Preparing food or eating
• Touching your eyes (whether to put on make-up or inserting or removing contact lenses)
• Treating wounds, giving medicine, or caring for a sick or injured person 
  
  
  
  

After:

• Preparing food, especially raw meat or poultry
• Using the toilet or changing a diaper
• Touching an animal, their toys, leash, or waste products
• Touching dirty laundry
• Blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing into your hands
• Treating wounds or caring for a sick or injured person
• Handling garbage, household or garden chemicals, or anything that could be contaminated — such as a cleaning cloth or soiled shoes
• Touching exercise equipment at the gym
• Coming home from work or school
• Getting off public transportation
• Shaking hands with others
  

HOW TO WASH YOUR HANDS

1. Wet your hands with cold, running water. Using warm or hot water doesn't increase germ killing, and it actually raises your odds of skin irritation (source).
   
2. Apply liquid, bar, or powder soap. Don't use anti-bacterial soap – it costs more and is no more effective at killing germs than regular soap, plus it contains chemicals that can actually damage your health.
   
3. Get a lot of lather going! Lathering and scrubbing creates the friction necessary to lift the dirt, microbes, etc. from your skin. Make sure you get the backs of your hands, under your fingernails, and the space between each and every finger. Scrub for at least 20 seconds (or two rounds of The ABC Song).
   
4. Rinse well and dry your hands with a clean towel or paper towel before using a towel or your elbow to turn off the faucet.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

SO WHAT ABOUT HAND SANITIZER?

Hand sanitizers are great, but only when soap and water are not available (don't be lazy – go to the sink!). Use a hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol and remember to:

• Apply enough to your palm to wet your hands completely (source).
• Rub your hands together, again vigorously, covering of the surfaces and getting in the nooks and crannies until your hands are dry.
  
  

Antimicrobial wipes or towelettes are another effective option if used properly.



For a fun, catchy tune on how to wash your hands, watch the YouTube video below:

HAPPY WORLD HEALTH DAY! 

Now go wash your hands!

9 Fascinating Tidbits About Germs, Handwashing & Keeping Your Family Healthy

Unlike some mothers, I am not a germophobe. I mean, kids get sick. Period. And they unwittingly spread germs. Period. In all likelihood, their father brings back more germs from his commute into the big city (subways – ewwww) than the children. Still, I am not a fan of my kids being sick. Right now, both are complaining of sore throats, although I always wonder if my younger one is telling the truth. Every time I complain of a menopausal hot flash, she claims she's having one, too. 

Being sick is no fun for anyone...

I did, however, perk up when I saw some posters about germs posted in one of the classrooms at the school where I work. 

 Let me share with you some fascinating stats about germs from the website itsasnap.org:

• Nearly 22 million school days are lost yearly due to the common cold (not the flu – COLDS).
  
  
• Frequent handwashing and refraining from sharing items like cups, towels, and utensils with an infected person should decrease the spread of viruses to other people.
• More than two-thirds (or 32 million) school-aged kids (ages 5 to 17 years) in the United States missed school in the past 12 months due to illness or injury.
• Some illnesses can live on places like doorknobs for up to two hours.
• Students don't clean their hands as often as they should or well enough. In one study, only 58% of female and 48% of male middle and high school students washed their hands after using the bathroom. Of these, only 33% of the females and 8% of the males used soap. Ewwww....
• Adults need to clean their hands better, too. In one study, 92% SAID they always wash their hands in public bathrooms, but only 77% were seen doing so. 
  
  

And here are some more stats from the website microbeworld.org:

- Guys are doing better at washing their hands than they have in the past. 77% of men washed their hands publicly in 2010 as compared to 66% in 2007.

- But men could do better at handwashing in sporting venues. Atlanta's Turner Field stadium had the worst percentage for men in 2010 at only 65% of men doing it. That's better, however, than just 57% in 2007. Turner Field did have the best stats for women among the sporting venues with 98% of women there washing their hands.

- Women are washing their hands more and more in public restrooms with a jump from 88% in 2007 to 93% in 2010.

I think the message here is that we really should be washing our hands more than we already are as a first line of defense against getting sick.


While soap and water is always the best, most of us hang those little bottles of hand sanitizer on our kids' backpacks; honestly, I'm just not sure my wee folk are using them all the time.

So here's what I do to minimize the chances of the family getting sick:

- Have hand sanitizer front and center when people walk into the house. I keep a big bottle of it on a cabinet and as soon as the kids or hubby walk in, they go for it.

- Always have some handy in the car or in a purse. I keep it on my purse and try to have the kids use it when they get in the car,especially after my daughter gets out of gymnastics (those mats can be NASTY). Wipes are fine, but I learned the hard way that they freeze in the winter.

- If I know someone who is sick has been in my car, I'll Lysol the car after they've been in it.

- Similarly, if a person who has been sick has been in the house, I'll wipe down doorknobs, faucets, light switches, etc. with a sanitizing wipe.

- I use hand sanitizer after using my credit card in a store. Those pens you sign with are teaming with bacteria!

- If possible, I'll use my own pen in public. Pens, again, harbor germs and you never know who has sneezed into their hands and then written something.

- Remind the family to use moisturizer on their hands at night. All that handwashing and sanitizing can dry out skin. Cracks invite germs into the body. Moisturizing stops that.

- Drink plenty of water. Flushing germs and keeping the mucous membranes hydrated during the dry winter months is essential in helping those parts of the body eliminate germs that do get into the body.

I'm not afraid of germs. I'm just vigilant about them. What methods do you take to keep your family healthy? I'd love to know!

Please note that I am not a doctor, healhcare professional or anything medical-related.  I'm just a humble mom, passing on advice that works for me.  

6 Ways You CAN Look Good When You've Got A Cold

I came down to breakfast this morning and my husband gasped in horror. “Your nose – it's bright red and bulbous,” he exclaimed. Yeah, love you, too, you moron. I knew I looked terrible. I felt terrible and had cringed when I looked in the mirror this morning, but I just cannot shake this cold. Still, I have a job interview today and need to look decent. 

It's easier than you think to look good when you've got a cold!

So, after doing a little research and a bit of experimenting, here are 6 ways I found to not only look human, but good, when you have a cold:

• Combat puffy eyes with caffeinated tea bags. I look like I've been in a boxing ring, so I took two cold, wet teabags, placed them over my eyes, and laid down for about 15 minutes. The caffeine constricted the blood vessels and, combined with the coldness of the bags, reduced the puffiness. 
  
  
  
  
• Use lubricating eye drops to cool your eyes, reduce redness, and get rid of that bloodshot look. Just plain eye drops – not antihistamines.  These felt WONDERFUL, too!
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  My nose looked so bad that some kid starting singing "Rudolph The Red-Nosed-Reindeer" when he saw me in the grocery store this morning.  :((

  
  
  
  
  
  
• Play up your eyes. Make eyes look brighter by lining the inner corner of your eyes with white eye shadow or liner and use neutral shadows to play up your eyes. My goal was to take the viewer's attention off my Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer nose and emphasize my eyes. I used not only the white shadow and neutral tones (staying AWAY from anything remotely pink), but took out the eyelash curler to make my lashes look bigger. 
  
  
  
  
• Use concealer on your nose. Sure, this is obvious. The harder part was really blending it in so that it covered the crimson but didn't look caked on. I also used a cream makeup, rather than powder which actually drew attention to my proboscis.  
  
  
  
  
• Ditch the blush and opt for a bronzer. Blush only reinforced any redness on my face whereas bronzer gave me a bit of a glow so I looked healthier than I felt. 
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Looking good helps me feel a tad better when I have a cold.

  
  
  
  
  
  
• Use lip gloss rather than  a colored lipstick. My lips were chapped as a result of my cold, so I used lip gloss to hydrate them and by not calling attention to my lips, the emphasis was, again, on my eyes. 
  
  

Lastly, I stuck a bottle of water in my purse because it's especially important to stay hydrated when you're sick. I'm glad I did, because the woman interviewing me was 20 minutes late and the waiting area was painfully dry. 

Outside of the tea bags, none of the above took more than a few minutes and they were easy to do.

I looked good on the interview and nailed it. Rather than being fixated on my nose, the hiring manager kept looking me in the eyes. And even though I realize I don't want this particular job, I learned that just because I'm sick doesn't mean I can't look attractive.

I really believe in the whole "fake it till you make it" mantra where you fake looking better in the hopes that it will make you feel better.  In this case, it worked because looking better helped me feel more confident during the interview.  

Give these tips a shot and tell me how they worked for you!  Thanks for visiting!

A source for this article was www.rd.com,. 

Happy Housewife's Day - So What DOES A Housewife Do?

With today being Housewife's Day, granted an archaic term because no one is the wife to a house, I thought I'd touch on what exactly a stay-at-home spouse and/or parent does. 

A housewife does NOT watch soaps & eat bon-bons all day!

As the mother of two, with both children in school, I can attest to the fact that the image that we do nothing but watch soaps and eat bon-bons is a load of crap! 

I'm busier most days that many people with office jobs. Some of what I do is:

• Clean the house
  
  
• Organize the house (closets, basement, store room, etc.) and KEEP them organized in spite of my family
  
  
• Cook (or in my case, burn food)
  
  
• Shop for food, run errands for the family (go to the pharmacy, pick up birthday gifts, go the dry cleaner, take the car in for maintenance etc.), and call/wait for contractors
  
  
• Research purchases and family-related matters (diet, medical conditions, contractors, etc.)
  
  
• Phone and argue with insurance companies over legitimate claims that are disallowed

• Volunteer at the school
  
  
• Prepare my lesson plan for the lessons I teach at Sunday school
  
  
• Visit elderly relatives
  
  
• Catch up on the kids' scrapbooks (I'm only 1 year behind now)
  
  
• Do home repair (painting, masonry, etc.)
  
  
• Am on-call for sick kids
  
  
• Patch clothes/turn stain garments into wearable ones
  
  

Once the kids arrive home, there's making sure homework is done, scheduling/supervising playdates, chauffeuring them around (to playdates, activities, doctors'/dentist appointments, etc.), making snacks/lunches for the next day, filling out school forms, and supervising chores. Oh, and obviously there are no sick days or personal days in this job.

Sure, I take care of myself and exercise and, yes, I occasionally sit down to read a book, but most of what I do is for the family. Add to that “looking for a part-time job” (we can always use the extra money) and the fact that I write two of my own blogs while contributing to two others, and I'm darn busy. When my daughter was home, as any stay-at-home parent knows, the task of caring for another human being was all-encompassing and exhausting.

I am not the wife to a house - I am a stay-at-home spouse

Could I do all that stuff if I worked outside the home? Yes, but like those of you who do work, I'd be rushed and wind up doing many of those tasks on the weekend. As it is, because I do stuff during the week, my family is able to spend quality time together without scattering to do errands on Saturdays and Sundays. (Honestly – my undying admiration is with all working parents!)

All of us get one shot at raising these kids and I'll be damned if I'm going to screw it up! The Teen is growing up waay to fast and will soon be in college. When my kids come home, I relish the time I have with them, even as I get one ready for gymnastics and chauffeur the other to his own activities. I want to be home for my son as he struggles through puberty. I want to SEE who he's hanging with, where he's going, and what he's doing.  I want to be on call for when he finds himself in a situation he cannot handle.  Similarly, I love volunteering at the school and catching a glimpse of my daughter. She lights up when she sees me because she knows I'm there purely for HER.

The Teen needs more supervision NOW when the temptations to get into trouble are at their peak!

Being a stay-at-home spouse is certainly undervalued by society. Those of us who don't earn money are often paid lip service (“Oh, I could never do what you do” people say condescendingly) by those who do. “Money” equals “value” and those who don't make money are seen as being of less value. I even had one guy call me a “freeloader” for not working! 

Those of us who stay-at-home DO work and what we do is important.

We are busy, productive members of society. It's time to be proud of being a “housewife.” Happy Housewife's Day to all of my fellow stay-at-home spouses! 

Read more about “What A Mom's Work Is Worth” here (http://www.salary.com/mom-paycheck/) at Salary.com.

~~

Thank you for reading!  

5 Tips For Comforting A Child With Bronchitis

The Chillow helped my son when he had a fever.

It's been a rough nine days in my house. My son, who is NEVER sick, was running a 102 degree fever for 8 days. At first, the doctor thought it was a simple virus. When his temp hit 104.8 two nights later, I freaked, although the doctor on call didn't. She started him on an antibiotic. When he still wasn't any better, another pediatrician at the practice diagnosed him as having “bronchitis and 'recovering pneumonia'.” It turns out that two viruses are fighting for control of my poor Teen. She prescribed two more antibiotics which, THANK GOD, have brought down his fever, although he's starting on a steroid today to stop his wheezing.

Making him comfortable throughout this has been a challenge. Here are 5 things I've been doing which seem to be helping:

1. Eucalyptus oil – A few drops of this on his pillow seem to make him cough less. I did when when my kids were babies and I couldn't rub Vicks on their chest.
   
   
2. Using the Chillow when a child has a fever – When I reviewed the Chillow (read about it here), I suggested it might be helpful for a feverish child and it certainly was. The coolness of the Chillow helped him on very restless nights. It's now part of my arsenal whenever anyone is running hot.
   
   
3. Ovaltine – Junior has not been eating much at all. Ovaltine was my go-to drink when my son was growing up and refused to eat fruits and veggies. Yes, it contains sugar but it also has 12 vitamins and minerals. It's one of those “comfort drinks” from when my son was little. I mixed it in with whole milk (because he needs the calories right now) and I'm happy that at least he's getting some nutrition in addition to the seltzer he lives on and, thankfully, has been drinking throughout this ordeal. For more on Ovaltine, click here.
   
   
4. Salt water in the nebulizer – Although the doctor has Junior on Albuterol, at the first cough, I usually put salt water in our nebulizer and start the kid on that every few hours. The steam is comforting. I follow that up, at night, with the vaporizer. 
   
   
5. Some fresh air – Junior has been weakened by this illness, but getting him out, just for a walk around the perimeter of the house, clears his head a bit. Plus, since being sick for so long is just plain depressing, it reminds him that there is life outside this house that he'll soon be a part of again.

He just announced he's bored. GOOD! If he can tell me that, it's time that he begins, gradually, to get back to really living. Later on, I'll take him for soccer cleats and a new backpack. High school starts next week and he needs to be ready. The bronchitis and pneumonia will soon be an unpleasant memory. These viruses have robbed him of two weeks of Summer vacation. It's time for us to re-claim what's left of this season before we move on to the next. 

Helping Your Child Overcome Separation Anxiety Or School Refusal – Empowering Parents Who Are At Our Wit's End

A few weeks ago, out of no where, my daughter started complaining of dizziness, headaches and stomach aches. The first time it happened, I let her stay home from school and, miraculously enough, about an hour after school had started, she made a full recovery. But the next morning, it happened again. When I explained that in light of the absence of a fever or vomiting, she had to power through the symptoms, she threw a hissy fit so severe that I physically couldn't get her to school. This prompted a visit to the pediatrician and eye doctor (for the headaches) who ruled out anything physical. Since then, she's thrown several more fits resulting in several days of missed school.

I was at my wit's end. I called Diva's teacher, the school nurse, guidance counselor, and a therapist I knew. All agreed that it sounded as if she was just tired. Yet despite an earlier bedtime and fewer after school activities, the fits persisted. I was convinced she was manipulating us, but the more I pushed her, the harder she fought back. Just getting her into the car was a monumental task. I didn't understand what was going on until I found this book at my library: Helping Your Child Overcome Separation Anxiety Or School Refusal by Andrew R. Eisen and Linda B. Engler.

This fairly short (181 pages), easy-to-read book shed some light on what Diva was going through. Apparently some children cannot express anxiety in any other way than through feeling what they call “sick”, usually with non-specific symptoms like tummy aches, headaches, dizziness, etc. These feelings are so unpleasant that the child also becomes nervous about feeling sick. They may feel unsafe in school and trapped, desperately clinging to Mommy or a safe adult. This makes parents feel like they're being manipulated and powerless, since you never know when your child is going to “pull” these fits. Your life becomes disrupted and you have no idea why. The book's authors assure the reader that far from being manipulative, these episodes are really a cry for help on the part of your child.

It delves into the nature of a kid's phobias, what they are, why they happen, and helps you understand what your child's safety needs are. It points out that the worries must be faced, not avoided, and suggests ways to gently help the child face those fears. More than anything else, it helped me come up with an action plan so that I can help Diva get through these episodes. In my case, some of the things I needed to do were get her to bed much earlier than I'd originally thought, start giving her more responsibility for packing her own lunch and snack (thus giving her more power over her world), allow her to pack her own backpack (again, an empowering thing), and get her up earlier so that she had more time to transition from waking up to getting out of the house. This week, Daddy is going to work a little later, just in case I do have trouble getting our daughter into the car and our plan is to periodically have Daddy do this, just to help both Diva and me. It also shows our daughter than we are both committed to helping her through this.

The book does warn, however, that even though the fears may be eliminated, there's always a chance that the child will backslide into them if the coping strategies are not maintained or if the kid experiences stress or any kind of separation-related transitions (like the beginning of camp or school). It also points out we, as adults, need to attend to our own mental wellness because anxious kids result in very apprehensive adults. Lastly, the authors explain optional treatments for severe anxieties, such as different types of therapy or medication.

Helping Your Child Overcome Separation Anxiety Or School Refusal is an empowering tool that demands work on the part of the parents. I actually read it while parked in a parking lot waiting for my son to come out of church so that I could really absorb what it was saying in peace. I also took notes and gave a copy of my action plan to the school counselor so that both the school and our family are on the same page and to show her that we are committed to eliminating or at least minimizing my daughter's future school absences.

If your child is experiencing separation anxiety or is refusing to go to school, this is a must-read book! At the least, it will help you understand what's going on with your child; at the most, it's a valuable tool to help you get through this period and end the struggle between you and your child. Help yourself and your family by reading it today.

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Note:  This post originally appeared on thegeekparent.com.  Visit me there, too!