When your kids are sick, everything comes to a screeching halt. Everything you do is for them, and what can be set aside for later, like regular housework and other less urgent daily responsibilities, becomes secondary. You turn from the little things to the big things, from tracking when you can give them their next doses of medicine to cuddling up and giving them comfort. After they get better, it’s easy to fall back into the rhythm of everyday life, but before you get started, there are certain precautions you need to take to avoid reinfection or spreading of the illness.

Strip the bed. Wash all the bedding, including pillows, that your child has been using. Germs love to hide in fabric. Let the hot water and soap detergent in your washing machine send them an eviction notice.

Toss the toothbrush. Get rid of your child’s toothbrush. Replacing it costs a lot less than prescriptions and watching them suffer another bug. Also, if he used any lip balms or other personal care items that came in contact with his mouth, toss them as well.

Sterilize surfaces. It’s astonishing how many surfaces a child comes in contact with every day. Wipe down all the surfaces in his bedroom and then use a disinfectant spray or wipe to kill any lingering germs. Then move on to the other surfaces in the house. Don’t forget door handles, light switches and the phone. These are all high traffic surfaces in your home that everybody touches.

Wash lovies. Little kids love to cuddle fabric lovies, like baby blankets and stuffed animals. These all need to be washed along with the bedding.

Sterilize toys. Any toys in the toy room or his bedroom should be wiped down with a disinfectant.

Empty all the garbage bins. Even if the trash can only has a couple tissues in it, toss the bag, sterilize the can and replace the liner.

Watching your children suffer an illness is miserable, but having them recycle the germs and get sick again is even worse. If you give your house a disinfecting once over, you’ll be protecting your little one from getting sick again and keeping the rest of your family safe, too.

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When your kids are sick, but you’re healthy, it’s miserable because you feel so helpless watching them suffer. When you’re sick and your kids are healthy, it’s miserable because moms aren’t allowed a day off. When you and the kids are sick, it’s miserable because everyone is miserable.

It doesn’t happen often that both parents and children fall ill at the same time, because germs have a way of skipping around and catching each family member at a different time. It’s like the circle of life…only with mucus. So, when it does strike a whole house at once, things get ugly in short order. Picture five cranky, boogery, achy, moaning family members lumbering around like zombies, carrying toilet paper because the surprise germ attack hit fast and furious and the tissues ran out. That’s the scene at my house today.

The good news is that while things aren’t exactly pretty right now, the chances of us all being healthy, sassy and back on our feet next week are far greater than if we took turns. In the meantime we just have to make the most of it and ride out the storm. There are a few key elements to keeping unnecessary unpleasantness at bay.

1. Stock up. When everyone in the family is hit with an illness at the same time, odds are good that you’ll need to hit the store at some point. Make a thorough list of everything you’ll want or need, from groceries and diapers to fever reducers and throat-soothing ice pops, so that the least sick parent can make one trip and be done.

2. Mellow entertainment. Choose some family-friendly films, books and music that will please the most people at once. Getting stuck with a five day kung fu marathon because dad has the remote is not going to lead to peace, relaxation and healing.

3. Keep meals simple. Stick with blander foods that take little prep time. Think “slow cooker.”

4. Concentrate on the cuddle. As your kids get older, they want less and less cuddle time. Sure, you may wind up with foreign snot on your pajamas, but the hugs and cuddles totally make up for it.

Being sick as a family isn’t the most awesome of circumstances, but it does happen from time to time. If you stock up on what you need and embrace it as a mucus-modified version of family time, it wall pass much faster and more comfortably.

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One of the worst parts of parenthood is watching your children go through a sickness. It’s a helpless feeling and painful to see them suffer, even with a cold. In most cases, there’s not much you can do beyond give your little one the treatments recommended by her doctor and cuddle her until she feels better.

It is a little easier if she’s got a great pediatrician. He may not be there sitting with you at home, but his knowledge, care and advice gives you guidance and confidence. Unfortunately, not all pediatricians are created equally, and sometimes you have to shop around a bit to find a good match for your family. When choosing your child’s pediatrician, here are some tell-tale signs that you might have found a great one:

1. Warmth. Many children are nervous or even scared when they walk into a doctor’s office, especially when they’re sick. For most, their experience with doctors usually leads to shots at the end of a checkup, and that leaves an impression on a little person. A great pediatrician has a naturally warm nature which has a calming effect and soothes some of your child’s fears. Often, these doctors use humor and good old-fashioned charm when they’re in the examination room.

2. Patience. Parents and children often have a lot of questions, and it’s important that your family pediatrician patiently answers them all. Besides that, nervous kids are wiggly, squirmy, whiney and sometimes completely uncooperative. All pediatricians know that these things are common, but not all of them have the same gentle, patient nature about them.

3. Thorough. Thoroughness is important, with both exams and treatments. A great pediatrician isn’t always quick to jump to a diagnosis and prescription every time you walk through the door. Sure, there are some childhood illnesses that they’ve seen thousands of times — like a sore throat — which can be treated rather simply, but if you’re in his office for the third time in one winter and he just prescribes the same medication without exploring what’s causing the problem over and over again, you might want to seek out a second opinion. Also, many great pediatricians will also offer non-medicinal treatments to help sooth an ailment, like sitting in a steamy room. They care about the overall comfort of their patients, and it shows in how they go the extra mile.

4. Availability. Doctors nowadays overbook their days, not out of greed, but necessity. Many hospitals and medical centers have quotas or requirements that they must meet, and let’s face it, they get more than their fair shares of no-shows. Even with their high volumes of patients, you still shouldn’t have to wait a of couple days to bring your sick child in for an appointment. If you don’t feel that you’re receiving timely service from your pediatrician, you might want to look elsewhere. Also, most great doctors will have a number for you to call to get assistance outside of normal business hours. You might not be talking to him or her specifically, but your questions will be answered by someone he trusts.

Great pediatricians are important players in the healths of our children. It may take some looking around, but once you find one, your whole family will benefit from his expertise, advice, and warm, caring heart.

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Christmas is just around the corner and there’s nothing worse than watching your child miss out on festivities because she’s sick. If you’d like to avoid Yuletide sniffles and coughs, it’s time to take the offensive and prevent those nasty bugs from hampering your family’s holidays.

You can take steps to decrease the likelihood that your family will be burdened with a Christmas cold or flu, but waiting until the last minute might just be a minute too late, so start now and then keep it going all through cold and flu season.

Around Your Home

Keeping your house clean is always an important step. Beyond keeping things tidy, make sure that things around the house that are frequently touched are sanitized. Door, fridge and cabinet handles, faucet knobs, toilet handles, light switches and the telephones are always good places to start. Even if nobody in your family appears to be sick, they could have tracked something in from school, work or anywhere else in public. Wipe down these surfaces with sanitizing wipes or use a spray, like Lysol. Disinfecting toys and sleeping areas is very helpful, too.

Clean and vacuum out vents to keep dust and other particles from circulating the house. These things contribute to respiratory issues, like sinus congestion. Breathing in dirt, sloughed skin and other ickies that float around isn’t awesome for your family’s lungs and nasal passages. If you have an air filtration system, check it regularly to make sure the filter is clean.

With Your Kids

Encourage everyone from daddy to the kiddies to wash their hands when they first wake up, get home, after using the bathroom, before eating and after play times. Germs like to hang out in weird places, and every parent knows, kids touch everything. With all the hand washing, make sure that everyone is moisturizing with lotion on a regular basis, colds aren’t fun, but neither are dry, chapped hands.

Amp up the vitamin C. Vitamin C won’t cure a cold, but it does boost the immune system. Offer your kids plenty of fruits and veggies that are rich in vitamin C, like berries, oranges, potatoes, tomatoes and broccoli. There are also lots of different types of vitamin C supplements in tablet and even gummy candy form.

Out and About

When you’re going to the store, check out around the entryway for sanitizing wipes. Most large chains offer them around the cart area to wipe down handles that your children and you will be touching. When you’re finished, use a delicate hand sanitizing lotion on your hands.

If you have to use a public washroom, try to use paper towels on common surfaces, like toilet handles and door handles as much as possible. Also, when washing your hands, use a paper towel to turn off the faucet. Otherwise, you’re just putting the same germs back on your hands when you’re finished. If your children are with you, explain that you’re trying to be careful about spreading germs. When you talk about it, speak seriously, but don’t make too big a deal about it. You want them to be careful, not paranoid germaphobes.

Keeping the holidays jolly is a lot easier without being sick, and that goes double for the little ones. Taking some extra precautions to keep your whole family healthy and safe will keep the boogies at bay this Christmas.

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When I was a kid, there wasn’t a chicken pox vaccine, so when a child in the area developed a light case of the itchy illness, it wasn’t uncommon for parents to bring their kids around to get it over with. Everyone knows that getting chicken pox as an adult can be significantly worse then as a child.

People would have chicken pox parties and other events in order to expose their kids. Since the vaccine came out, there hasn’t been much of a need, but the increasing vaccine fears some parents have are causing them to rethink the old time approach. One method is being decried as both unhealthy and just plain stupid by authorities.

Groups are popping up on Facebook and other social media sites for chicken pox lollipops. In essence, a child with chicken pox licks a lollipop and then the tainted treat is sent to another parent to give to their child in order for him to contract the disease. EWWW!!!! This is an epically bad idea for many reasons.

Besides having your kids share another kid’s spit, the potential for spreading other diseases and health problems is off the charts. Oftentimes, these groups are made up of complete strangers, so you have no idea what’s really on those shipped lollipops.

What if the kid has tuberculosis, hepatitis or another contagious disease as well as chicken pox? What if some malicious person deliberately puts other diseases or harmful chemicals on the contaminated candy just to get people sick? The negative ramifications of this activity far outweighs whatever benefits it creates.

Besides just being unsanitary, experts say it probably won’t even work. There is a very very small chance the child may get the disease from the lollipop, because, typically, the virus has to be inhaled. Oh, by the way, it’s also a federal crime to send a disease via mail. I’m sorry, but any parent that does this is asking for some serious trouble.

If you are worried about the vaccine, then let nature take its course. Parents have been dealing with chicken pox for a long time without the need to resort to lollipop swapping. This whole things just makes my skin crawl.

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When I was little, we could bring absolutely anything to school for snacks and birthdays. It didn’t matter what was in it, whether the ingredients were healthy or if it was made at home. We brought whatever we wanted and nobody raised a fuss. The teachers knew if a particular child had special dietary needs and would switch the treat out for something different.

Nowadays, things are different. With the public at large being more health conscious, schools are growing more particular about what can be shared for snacks and treats on special occasions. It’s a great idea, but can make purchasing large quantities of goodies that are still fun and yummy a bit harder.

There are certain guidelines at my son’s school that present limitations as to what we can send. We’re not allowed to send anything which may contain peanuts, has to be microwaved, was prepared at home and is a sugary treat (except for birthdays). I don’t have a problem with any of these restrictions, because they’re set for the safety and protection of the students, but it does make the snack-sending a little trickier.

I’ve compiled a list of simple snacks that can be sent for large groups of kids, and will hopefully help you out if you’re on the same boat.

Fruit cups. Since it’s a lot of work for one teacher to chop up enough apples or peel enough oranges for an entire class, fruit cups, packed in juice, are a tasty and healthy treat that require minimal setup.

Bagged popcorn. While the teacher can’t leave the classroom to pop a bunch of microwave popcorn, bagged, pre-popped popcorn is a good alternative.

Cheese and crackers. Most stores carry prepackaged cheese sticks, cubes or cracker-sized, individually wrapped slices. Pair them with a box of Ritz crackers and you have yourself a healthy, hearty snack.

Individual cracker sandwich packages. These come in a variety of flavors, just avoid anything with nut butters.

Goldfish crackers, Teddy Grahams or Animal Crackers. These will satisfy little palates and tummies between meals, plus they’re fun to eat.

Fruit snacks. Check the box for sugar content. Some varieties are made with real fruit and actually have nutritional value, rather than just being cleverly packaged candy.

Sending snacks to school may be a tad trickier nowadays, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t alternatives to cupcakes and candy bars. If you take a look at the packaging and think of the snack in terms of what you’d want your child to eat at home, there really are a lot of delicious treats that your kids can share with their classmates.

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The human body is primarily made of water, so it only makes sense that your growing kids should be drinking plenty of it. Still, if your children have grown accustomed to drinking flavored, sugary juices and drink mixes, plain water can be a hard sell. Don’t be embarrassed if your children are hooked on the sweet stuff, I’m speaking from experience here. My kids didn’t come with instruction manuals, either.

I actually didn’t realize how important it was to help my kids kick the sweetly-flavored drink habit, which includes juice, until my 4-year-old got his first cavity. The dentist explained that the top two causes of cavities in young children are juice and pasta (which gets stuck between the teeth and breaks down into sugar). Besides the damage to my kids’ chompers, sweet drinks can also negatively affect their behaviors (bounce of the walls much, kiddos) and development.

One of the best things you can do for your kids’ health is eliminate the sugary drinks and replace them with water. Water is important to children for a variety of reasons. Getting 6 – 8 glasses of water per day will:

• Help nutrients and other vital goodies move around their bodies
• Transport wastes out of their bodies through urine
• Keep their bodies at comfortable temperature by sweating
• Help to avoid painful constipation
• Keeps dehydration (which causes dizziness, headaches and fatigue) at bay

Encouraging your children to drink plenty of water may require a little more effort than just sharing these benefits with them. Even if they can understand what you’re telling them, being able to poop regularly probably isn’t going to sound like a good enough reason to ditch the sugar-filled deliciousness of a soft drink.

If you don’t want a heel-digging battle of wills, give these tricks a shot to make water seem a whole lot more appealing.

1. Glam it up: When it comes to kids and water, one of the immediate turnoffs is that it’s clear. How could it possibly be good if it’s just so boring, right? The solution? A few drops of food coloring. You can choose the color of the day or let them select it themselves. Either way, it just may be pretty enough to drink.
2. Dress it for success: Choose some fun, reusable water bottles for the kids to drink from. Nothing quenches a thirst like some agua from a Dora cup.
3. Get wacky with it: Never underestimate the power of some bizarre straws — and the bendier the better. There’s just something so fantastic about a twisty straw that kids have to have wills of steel to turn them away, even if the payoff is just water.
4. Model it like a superstar: If your kids are watching you drink sweet drinks, they’re not going to want to drink water; parents are the most influential people in children’s lives. If you champion water by drinking it regularly, it will seem completely natural for them to drink it, too.

I know that it’s not easy to make the switch from sweet drinks to water, even as an adult. I grew up on Kool-Aid, juice and chocolate milk like most of the children in my generation, so I had to train myself to appreciate and drink enough water, too. Encouraging your kids to drink water may take some creativity, but given the benefits to their growing bodies, it’s a worthwhile endeavor.

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I’m one of the lucky moms whose children LOVE bath time. Besides naturally being water-babies, they look forward to playing with their crazy array of bath toys.  They’ve got pull-string boats that zoom around the tub while they shoot hoops in their miniature basketball hoop or make scenes with foam cutout pirates that stick to the wall.

And then there are all the different rubbery, squeaky, squirty bath toys that populate the bathroom. I had a ducky when I was a kid. My boys have monkeys, sea creatures, farm animals, vehicles and, of course, ducks. There’s just something about a classic, right?

While my sons’ bath toy collection is somewhat out of control, they do take good care of them and put them away when they’re finished. That’s always been the deal; you play with it, you put it away. As long as they keep up their part of the bargain, my husband and I let them have their ridiculous assortment of bizarre bath time toys.

There is one thing that does drive me absolutely out of my mind, though. The slimy, ooky, moldy gunk that forms inside the rubber squirt toys. It’s disgusting. And despite our battling efforts to squeeze all the water out of the toys when the boys are finished, it is darn near impossible to get every last drop out. Sure enough, a day or two later, one of the boys will squeeze that purple seahorse and some nasty, slimy mold will shoot out. Blech. The thought of my little dudes swishing around in that, much less accidentally getting it in their mouths, turns my stomach.

When that mold gets in there, we only have two choices, pitch it or try to clean it out. You know those kids that “don’t notice” when something disappears? Yeah, my children are not like those kids, so we try really hard to save their toys when we can.

The main cleaning agents we use to battle rubber ducky mold are Kosher salt, water and vinegar. As simple as these items are, they really do a great job of killing mold without having to use harmful, poisonous chemicals.

To get mold off the outside of a toy, I scrub it with a little warm water, some Kosher salt and a toothbrush. If the toy is a hard plastic or vinyl, this usually does the trick. If the toy is made from a soft, spongy rubber, chances are that the toy is beyond saving. Mold grows into the rubber and not even bleach will fix that problem.

If the mold is inside the toy, I fill it with water, swish it around and then try to squeeze out as much as possible. Then I mix a solution of water and Kosher salt (heavy on the salt) in a bowl and suck as much of it into the toy as possible. I swish it around a few times and then leave it to sit overnight. In the morning, I squeeze out all the gunk I can. If there is still some scum clinging to the sides, I repeat the process with straight vinegar, leaving it sit over night again.

If the vinegar doesn’t polish off the last of that revolting bath toy mold, I give up the battle. I’d much rather have my kids miss a toy for a day or two than have them ingesting moldy sludge water.

My kids adore their bath toys and have a blast playing with them every night. Unfortunately, the damp conditions can lead to moldy buildup that I have to battle for my boys’ safety.  I’ve won more of these skirmishes than I’ve lost, but until my guys outgrow the bath toy stage, the war is far from over.

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In recent years, a great amount of attention has been turned toward decreasing and preventing cases of childhood obesity in the U.S. It’s a hot topic all over the media, in schools and even the government. Studies have shown that childhood obesity can lead to heart disease and other serious health problems in adulthood.

I understand why it’s important to encourage healthy eating and exercising for children. Every parent wants the best for his or her kids, and helping them learn how to treat their bodies is an important job. However, I think it’s also extremely important to be careful how the subject is broached with children themselves. It’s one thing to educate parents about the risks of unhealthy choices, but marketing the “if you get fat, you’ll be unhappy” message to children is both dangerous and unconscionable.

I was cruising twitter this morning, when I came to a link about a new book that will be available in October, Maggie Goes on A Diet by Paul Kramer. The simplicity of the title alone made my eyes squinty. It sounded like a little kid’s book. When I clicked the link, I about spilled my coffee.

The picture of the cover portrays an overweight girl holding a dress that’s too small for her, looking into a mirror. The mirror image is of her as a thin girl, holding the dress. According to the description on Amazon.com, the book is meant for children, ages 4-8. I could feel my face getting hot as a I read the book’s description:

“This book is about a 14 year old girl who goes on a diet and is transformed from being extremely overweight and insecure to a normal sized girl who becomes the school soccer star. Through time, exercise and hard work, Maggie becomes more and more confident and develops a positive self image.”

Here’s my beef. First, the book is geared toward very young children, who should not even be thinking about dieting. Second, small children think teenagers are pretty much the coolest people on the planet and try to imitate their actions and behaviors. Third, rather than promoting a positive self-image throughout the book, it sounds like that can only be achieved after hitting an ideal weight through dieting and exercise. And, finally, the word “normal” makes my soul feel bitey. It’s a very powerful word for children. If you’re not considered “normal” then you must be some disgusting, worthless freak, right? That’s how kids perceive it. To say “Maggie” went from “extremely overweight and insecure” to a “normal sized girl” could be extremely hurtful to young eyes.

It concerns me that a book like this could promote some serious body image issues to a very impressionable, sensitive audience. Do I think the book was written maliciously with that intent? Absolutely not. However, judging from the details available, I wouldn’t recommend it to any parent or child.

It’s possible to promote healthy eating and activity within the family unit without using harmful scare tactics and ugly, self-esteem damaging messages. Making healthy foods available to your children and enjoying active entertainment with them will do a far better service to them than handing them a book about dieting to be happy.

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Summer colds stink. Feeling yucky and wanting to hide under a blanket isn’t fun for anyone, especially a child who’s innate nature is to run around and have a blast. To keep colds from giving your munchkins the summertime blues, it’s important to practice the same precautions you use in the colder winter months.

• Encourage regular hand-washing, especially after outdoor play and before meals
• Sanitize doorknobs, light switches, refrigerator doors and other frequently touched items around the house
• Keep everyone hydrated, especially with water
• Discourage the sharing of cups and water bottles
• Have family members take their shoes off at the door

Another awesome proactive measure you can take is increasing your children’s vitamin C intake. Vitamin C is a natural immune system booster. It helps your kids absorb iron and calcium, knocks out free radicals from the environment, improves lung function and also aids in collagen production for healthy joints, skin, bones and teeth. A mom’s gotta love vitamin C.

Your kids can get vitamin c in most children’s vitamins, but there are plenty of natural sources, too.

• Strawberries
• Lemons
• Limes
• Oranges
• Grapefruits
• Broccoli
• Kale
• Brussels sprouts
• Bell peppers
• Cantaloupe
• Mustard greens
• Papaya
• Cauliflower

Adding some of these foods to your children’s diets and practicing your basic germ prevention routine will help keep the sneezes, wheezes and coughs from taking over your summer. Summer is way more fun without tissues and cold medicine.

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