I'm feeling like the out of control germ-a-phobe mother. I'm constantly saying, "Wash your hands!" and "Don't touch that!" This week when my three year old went to preschool he told his teacher that no one could touch him so he wouldn't get germs!But with so much going around, I think most parents are extra protective this year. What are you doing to keep your kids well? Any natural remedies that work for you? Are you carrying around the anti-bacterial gel? Or do you think they need to build up their immune systems with a good cold or two each year? Help!
Since Scott was diagnosed with his blood disorder which makes him immune system deficient, we have become far more active in the area of protecting ourselves. We all take daily vitamins and drink lots of orange juice and milk! And I am the sleep nazi! Casiday is 9 and I am so protective of bedtimes and getting adequate rest. Of course, I try to plan (and execute!) well-balanced, nutritional meals for our family and make sure that there are plenty of healthy snacks that everyone likes.
ReplyDeleteI think that you have to have balance. (As with everything right?!)
ReplyDeleteI know that when Elizabeth (my oldest (4.5)) was born, I went crazy - "please don't touch my baby, don't let her touch that, oh wipe her hands off" it went on... but living in China things are seriously 100 times dirtier than America. Folks in China consider baby urine to be sanitary... so when a child pees somewhere it is no big deal "just let it dry". So yea, I was stressed. It is typical for Chinese to 'wash their hands' with only cold water. Um...
But one day the Lord started working on me and showing me how many doors I was closing with people in the name of protecting my daughter.
I started to ease up a bit and just prayed over her and her health. And you know - we were still careful, but not to the degree I had been. If someone touched her held her or something I just simply wiped her hands off when it was convenient to not appear rude. The main thing we watched for with her and now her sister and brother was not putting hands in the mouth - especially when we were out - and not putting toys from other places in the mouth.
I found that when we spent 9 months in the US - my kids were all far sicker than they had been in China. That was just another way the Lord showed me that HE is protecting my kids - especially being overseas.
SO - all that to say - I have learned my lesson about germs. NO they are not your friend, but don't let them control you! :)
Erica
This may sound a little strange, but it has worked for us for the last 14 years or so, so I will continue to do the same thing each year....when the weather begins to get cold, and the germs begin to incubate as the heat is turned up, I keep a window (typically our upstairs bathroom) cracked ever so slightly, enough to feel a draft come through, but not enough to effect the thermostat of our home. My feeling is that by continually allowing fresh air to have some circulation in our home, we are not continually circulating the dry, stale, germ infested air. There is nothing fresher than the smell of cool, crisp winter air! I am the mom of 5 children, and praise God, we have never truly had an outbreak of flu or severe virus in our home, and I assure you it would pass very quickly and easily from one to another infecting us all....take my "trick" for what it is worth, which probably isn't much, but as I said, it has worked for me, so it may be worth a try.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to see a blog on this subject because I think I am beginning to drive myself (and my husband) crazy. I have an almost 3 year old and a 6 month old. For the most part, we have been very blessed and our family hasn't had many illnesses at all. That being said, my son starts pre-school in a few weeks and I am freaking out about it because it seems once kids get in school, they are always sick and I worry about him bringing something in on the baby. I don't want to be a germ-a-phobic, but I do want to exercise good common sense. Other than hand-washing and Germ-x, I do a lot of praying over my kids, that God would protect them. It has worked. There have been times when "bugs" were going around and I just prayed a hedge of protection over our family and it passed us by. I'm also trying to teach my son to cough or sneeze into the inside of his elbow instead of his hands. But it's hard. As a mom, there are a million different things to worry about, so I just try to trust in God and let him carry my burdens.
ReplyDeleteCarrie
We have already started over using the "hanitizer" as we call it in our house.
ReplyDeleteWe definitely need to focus on what we can do to protect ourselves, but I also think we need to remember how to protect others. If our kids have symptoms that are questionable, we need to keep them home from school, day care, church activities, etc. It only takes one child to make the entire class sick.
I'm not sure what we'll do differently...but I have to share that this weekend we were on our way to meet a friend for a special birthday lunch when she called to say that they had been exposed to the flu, possibly the swine flu. We joked about my son (18 months, got sick way too often last year!) getting the flu just from us talking about it in front of him. So we made plans for next weekend instead and moved on...a few hours later, said son threw up. Twice. So when I spoke to my friend again, once he was all better, we had a good laugh about how talking about the flu virus made him sick! Around here, we have to laugh about it or cry...
ReplyDeleteWe have also been trying to totally increase our water intake and staying on top of vitamins, etc.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate friends that say that their kids is sick and they shouldn't hang out.
Too often my kids are getting sick, and it turns out that the other kids was showing symptoms way before.
It is not worth it.
For some kids it may just be a little cold that you are passing on, but for others it could turn into something major.
I don't think people have a good concept of how long they are contagious for. And taking cold medicine does not stop you from being contagious!
I have 8 children, in 20 years we have never had a real bout of the flu go thru the house. Occasionally someone will fill a little sick, maybe vomit (once a year?) we haven't had an ear infection in 18 years (and I think that pediatrition caused them with the thing he poked in my son's ear).
ReplyDeleteWhat do I think is the secret??? Well, I am of the thought that you need some germs, that being outside at least part of the day, no hand sanitizers, no sunscreen(we need our vitamin D)My house is clean but not surgery ready ;0)
That being said, if I had a child that was seriously ill - ie cancer - I would be much more dilligent and wouldn't be so cavalier in the way we live.
BTW - I have had my kids in public, private and homeschool at different times - no change in our health no matter where we were.
As a preschool teacher it was very interesting to read all these comments.
ReplyDeleteI keep it simple, sanitizing commonly touched items like doorknobs and tabletops. Yes, we wash after potty and before eating. That's it. Kids need to be exposed to some germs, it is the only real way to toughen up an immune system.
:)