“Did he just say his son had chicken pox and he brought him to school anyway because the kid didn’t want to miss a day?” Sadly, I heard questions like this often from stunned parents when I was teaching elementary school. Even though we were required to send the children home if they were contagious it was already too late and other students would have been exposed. Because of these situations, I had an entire repertoire of ideas to prevent colds and flu among my students. If your child is constantly suffering from the sniffles, here are some tips to help protect against future flair ups.
1. Use Alcohol Based Hand Sanitizer.
Doctors suggest the biggest tip to avoid illness is to stay away from sick people. This is practically impossible with school aged children who are in close contact with each other in the classroom. Instead keep some alcohol based hand sanitizer in their backpack or purse. Tweens and teens will like the Pocketbac Anti-Bacterial hand gel from Bath and Body Works. Costing $1.25 per bottle, it’s available in fragrances like Sweet Pea and Japanese Cherry Blossom that kids will love so they will be tempted to use it often.
2. Don’t share drinks or food.
Teens especially enjoy grabbing each other’s drinks and having a few sips or having a bite of each other’s food. Stress the importance of having their own water bottle and not letting anyone else use it. Believe me, I know this is easier said than done. My daughter is the world’s worst about sharing food. Whenever a friend of hers gets sick, I know it is only a matter of time until she has the same thing.
3. Wash hands often.
Everyone knows this but how often do we forget to do it? For those of us who do wash our hands often, most of the time we think a quick rinse will get rid of all the germs. In reality, it takes 30 seconds to get hands completely clean or long enough to sing a round of Happy Birthday. Since most of us, especially teens, are not going to be caught in a public restroom singing, hum a favorite tune in your head instead! It’s important to make sure to work up a soapy lather, something young kids will have no problem with, and pay attention to fingernails where germs could be lurking. Bath and Body Works Anti-bacterial deep cleansing hand soap in Japanese Cherry blossom contains a moisturizing blend to keep my hands hydrated so I can use it often.
What tips do you share with your children to avoid the flu?
I have at least 5 of those little things in my purse right now. I’m still using my holiday ones though. 🙂
I always do the happy birthday song in my head. Getting enough sleep is also a way to stay well.
slehan at juno dot com
Yes! I love those tips. I also add a lot of Lysol. 🙂
Those are all great tips! I also remind my boys to cover their mouths when they cough so they don’t spread their germs around.
I think it’s important to remember not to share food – I know I am SOOOO guilty of this among my immediate family (hubby/kids). I need to remember not to do that!!
When I was pregnant with my son, I was diligent about washing my hands and lucked out to never get sick during my pregnancy. I used Bath & Body Works hand soaps and sanitizers. I love the different scents, especially the Japanese Cherry Blossom.
Japanese Cherry Blossom is my favorite! I keep these small hand sanitizers in different rooms in my house and in my purse. I also keep anti-bacterial hand soaps by the all the sinks for everyone to use.
http://shelleysallofmeblog.wordpress.com
I think my grand daughter would love to experience the Japanese Cherry Blossom. I think that scent would be great.
I actually have a bottle of the Japanese Cherry Blossom hand sanitizing lotion in my purse! It smells SO GOOD.
Great tips! We love the little hand sanitizers from BBW, so many fun scents to choose from – that really encourages my sons to use them.
Loved your tips; I always use hand sanitizer in every pocket and never leave the house without it. Thanks for a reminder on how to stay healthy
Thank you for the tips. I keep forgetting to put hand sanitizer in my purse.
Such great tips! The flu is so bad this year!
I love some hand sanitizer. It’s all over my classroom at school!
Great tips Pam! Washing hands with anything helps so much- people need to remember and practice that habit!!
Washing hands is definitely the best tip! We have a huge stock of the Bath and Body Works foaming soap. My son loves it, and we always stock up when they have sales.
Thanks for the tips – simple, yet effective!!