Disclosure: This post brought to you by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare.
Walking through the grocery store yesterday, I saw it and it stopped me right in my tracks. The seasonal aisle was packed full of pumpkin spice and apple treats. You know what that means? That means that autumn is almost here. Soon the leaves will change color and then in fall, the air will become cooler and the kids will be back to school.
At that point, it would seem that things are finally beginning to go back to normal, but the chaos of the holiday season is not too far away! The holidays mean more time with family and friends, and you don’t want anyone in your house to miss out on the festivities, so you need to make sure you prep your household for all the extra germs that are about to invade
Holiday parties are always fun because all the people you love (and their germs) are all brought together. This year I am going to make sure I stay one step ahead of them. This year I am busting out my trusted mom hacks to help keep everyone healthy.
- Control The Germs: Ok, so I can’t control every germ in my house, but I can make sure the things everyone touches (door knobs, light switches, trash can lids, etc.) are wiped down with antibacterial wipes and that there are napkins near all the snack bowls so people use those instead of their hands.
- Encourage Hand Washing: It’s easy to encourage kids to wash their hands after they use the bathroom (or pick their nose). It’s a lot harder to encourage another adult without sounding rude. No one wants to remind Granny to wash her hands before she dips another chip, seeing as how she just got done playing with her dentures. However, making hand washing stations easy to find and readily available helps with this. New, awesome smelling soaps and festive towels are a great way to start. “Hey Grandma, don’t you love the smell of my new apple cinnamon hand soap?”
- Fully–Stocked Medicine Cabinet: The kids always seem to be the ones that get sick, which makes sense because their immune systems are not as strong as adults’. I’m one step ahead of those Sick just got real.™ moments because my medicine cabinet is filled with Children’s Advil® Suspension (for ages 2-11), Children’s Robitussin® (for ages 6+), and Children’s Dimetapp ® (for ages 6+).
- Good Air In, Bad Air Out: On cool weather days, before- and after-parties allow your entire house to ‘air out’ so that the air is not stagnant. Use a fan to make this practice fast and easy. If it gets too cold, close the windows, but leave the curtains open to allow sunlight in the home. The sun’s rays help to naturally kill viruses and bacteria.
- Freeze: Alright, you don’t have to freeze… but if you can stand it, try and keep the house cooler especially during party days. Viruses have a real hard time thriving in cooler weather. The reason viruses are spread easily during the winter months is that the body temperature is just right and everyone tends to stay indoors where viruses are passed to one another.
Do you use any special mom hacks during the holidays to keep your family healthy?
These are very good tips to ward off getting sick for the Holiday season. It is no fun being sick and the way to do it is to make sure your healthy and wash your hands a lot in hot soapy water.