Be prepared

Anyone who has children knows that they come out of the womb with a master's degree in catching and passing germs. With the Cold and Flu season in full swing here are some helpful reminders. We hear it all every season, this is just my 2007 refresher.



1. Eat right, exercise and get enough sleep. Sticking to a diet that includes plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit each day, as well as exercising regularly, will make it easier for your body to resist any kind of infection, including colds and flu. If your diet is less-than-perfect, add a multivitamin to your daily routine. In addition, if you are well-rested and get eight hours of sleep each night, you will be less vulnerable to catching a virus.
2. Get in a lather. Wash your hands frequently with warm water, particularly around your rings and under your nails. Use liquid or plain soap, and lather for at least 20 seconds. The friction and lathering is what is most important. When turning off the water, be sure to use a paper towel to prevent recontaminating your hands.
3. Vaccinate. Flu shots aren’t for everyone . . . but if you’re over the age of 65, have a chronic disease affecting your heart and lungs, have diabetes or kidney problems, take certain drugs that affect the immune system, or work in institutions that care for these people; you should consider getting the flu vaccine. This preventative measure may lesson your symptoms or keep you from getting the flu altogether.
4. Help clean the air around you. From sick children and allergens to mold and fungal spores, the air we breathe inside our homes can be worse than the air we breathe outside. To help clean the air in your home, use an air sanitizer, such as the revolutionary, new Germ Guardian.
5. Don’t touch! Colds and flu are spread most often by hand-to-hand or surface-to hand contact. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth after being exposed to viruses or bacteria.
6. Sneeze safely. If you have to sneeze and can’t find a tissue in time, sneeze into your shoulder (not your hands) to avoid spreading germs.
7. Disinfect, disinfect, disinfect! Be sure to clean and disinfect frequently used surfaces such as telephones, countertops, door knobs and stair rails to avoid hand-to-hand spread of viruses.
8. Open the windows. Germs like stagnant air and will remain there. Weather permitting, open windows to circulate fresh air.
9. Avoid smoking. Smoking is a respiratory irritant that increases susceptibility to viruses that cause colds and the flu. Avoid smoking, as well as second-hand smoke.
10. Stay away from sick people. Saving the best advice for last . . . because colds and viruses are shared when these infections are coughed and sneezed into the air, try to stay away from people who are ill; and avoid enclosed, crowded places. If you’re sick yourself, be sure to stay away from work and other public places if at all possible.

So, you’ve followed these tips and you still got sick? Not to worry. According to Dr. Reynolds, “The best treatment is to rest, keep warm and drink plenty of fluids to help flush the germs out of your system. Although there aren’t any drugs to specifically cure the cold or flu, there are some nonprescription medications to help relieve symptoms such as headaches, sore throats and coughs. Always check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking any new medications, as they may have negative interactions with prescriptions you are already taking.”

And while you’re on the mend . . . it can’t hurt to try some comforting cures, from chicken noodle soup to tea with honey – sometimes these remedies can do wonders in getting you and your family back on your feet.

Home check

Found this on the goodyblog. We delt with ear infections several times with Jacob, but have lucked out with Izzy and Andrew. Maybe this is something your family would benefit from.

Is It An Ear Infection?
If your child is prone to ear infections, you might worry about her ears every time she gets a cold and seems cranky—especially if she's too young to tell you that they hurt. Should you take her to the doctor? I was impressed when I met with the makers of EarCheck ($59), a brand new easy-to-use device that looks like an ear thermometer. You put it in your child's ear and it emits safe sound waves that detect fluid in the middle ear—a key sign of infection. It’s very similar to a device that pediatricians have been using for the last ten years. If it registers in the red zone, you should take your child to the doctor—otherwise, you can relax and assume that her crankiness has nothing to do with her ears.

Eating habits

Most news stories and articles that are out these days talk about childhood obesity being at an all time high. In our home, with Isabelle, it's more like childhood starvation! My daughter Isabelle won't eat! Over the past 3 days she has not sat down to eat a meal at the table. She has to be hungry, I rarely let her have a snack. It's not as if we are offering foods that she would not like. She has turned down pizza, grapes, grilled cheese, spaghetti Os and more. She will drink things so I am satisfied for now knowing that she is getting milk, water and juice throughout the day. She doesn't claim to feel sick, she just doesn't want to eat. Today, I know she hates taking a nap so I told her it was eat or sleep and she chose to sleep. Does anyone think I should be worried? She is little,always has been, only weighing about 25lbs and she is almost 3, but she is also very active. In my logical thinking-I think if she is running around, she must be hungry burning the calories. I don't want to force the issue and come down on her for it, but I make it very clear that the meal is only offered once and there are no snacks or treats if she doesn't eat a good meal. How have you handled these situations or what would you try?

Idea

I am convinced that kids are experts at spreading germs. I never really was a germ freak until I had kids, but it seems that if one of them gets sick, everyone gets sick, which causes stress and tiredness throughout. For the past few weeks I have been working at our church on the facilities team. I clean, set-up, and am a warm body in the building in case some one needs something. So, as I was cleaning the bathrooms I was struck with the thought and wonder of why bathrooms don't have at least one low sink and soap dispenser for kids to wash their hands with. My thought continued as I headed to Target a couple nights ago and Isabelle needed to use the bathroom. When she was done I knew she needed to wash her hands, so I do what I normally do and boost her up to lay her belly on the edge of the sink and quickly rub soap and water on her hands, doing it quickly enough so her insides don't get too squished by bending her mid section over. She usually grunts and then starts to say that it hurts, so we need to do it fast. Being a former teacher of kindergarteners and having to teach the proper way to wash hands, and I know it takes 20-30 seconds to get most of the germs off. So really, my 5 second attempt to wash Isabelle's hands- in some sort is a waste.

How can I educate and convince owners of businesses or facitlies with public bathrooms to think about having one or two lower sinks and soap that kids (ages 2-5) can reach. Jacob is tall enough to reach the sink, but he has no chance to reaching to get the soap out. I need some ideas, I think this is something that could be easily fixed.

State bird

I took Jacob to the Dr. today because his foot and and ankle were swollen, red, and hard and warm to the touch. It turned out to only be a horse fly bite (kind of embarrassing). Poor Jacob must have sweet blood, because he is covered with bites. The Dr. told me to make sure he always has some kind of insect repellent on with only10% DEET. She also showed a real tick and told us to be on the watch for them as they are out in high numbers this summer.


Mosquitoes are so nasty. It's a common joke in MN that it's the state bird. I get the chills just looking at this picture. An article from Club mom offers a creative and cheap way to cure the itch from the bites:
My grandmother's cure was salt — just plain table salt. She would wet her hands and pour salt on them. Then she would place her hand on our bites and rub. Low and behold the itching would stop — it was our miracle cure. To read the rest of the article click the link above.

I will have to try it out and see if it works. I am sure there will be plenty more times this summer cure the itches.

FC update

It's been 2 weeks since I have mentioned anything about my FC journey. A couple people have asked how it's going and the truth is, it's not going good or bad. The past couple weeks have been very busy. I have not lost or gained any weight. I have however had some lapse of judgment on some food choices over the past two weeks. When I got on the scale today to give an update I was surprisingly not devastated. I am currently battling a cold and with that comes some extra fatigue and poor choices. I am serious about getting back on track, I am going to the gym tonight. I am preparing a healthy dinner too. Don't worry, I'm not quiting. I am going to work really hard til my birthday (March 18th). I need to break it down into smaller steps so I know that I can achieve it! I am going to work on breaking my addiction to caffeine and try to make myself go to bed earlier. Keep praying for me, I need it.

On top of my physical change journey, my emotional change journey, now Brenton and I are about to start a debt free life journey. I will explain more later, just know that we are doing a lot of changing and growing in this present stage of life, it sometimes feels like my physical change journey can wait, but I want to keep trying just one week at a time!

One last thing, I am changing the Fat Chic journey title to Smaller Jeans. That will help keep me focused on the future rather than living in the past!

AGAIN!

It's true Andrew is constipated again! I don't know what to do. Today I was trying to help by pushing on his stomach and he was screaming and crying. I started crying because I can see the pain he is in (literally)- I won't go into detail. I know the nurses at the nurse line know what they are doing, but no on seems to give me any solutions that will ease his pain in the process of passing this hard stool. I am so frustrated that this can't be fixed it seems like something very simple. I don't understand how he was totally regular for the first 5 months of his life, and now he is all backed up. Please pray for us both me that I will stay calm and for him that he can have a movement without throwing up and tearing! (sorry it's graphic).

Valuable resource

I was doing a little research on the flu vs. a cold. Here are some great web sites to check out.

http://www.kaboose.com/ click on healthy kids
http://www.flufacts.com/ you can sign up to get an email that tells you when the flu is at a higher level in your area- COOL!

I learned all kind of interesting things like, how long a germ lives on a surface, the myths and facts about getting sick, good foods to eat while you are sick, and ways to prevent my active children from getting sick.