Icky Sicky

Last week I was sick. Really sick. I barely left my house for seven days and I couldn't accomplish pretty much anything. Needless to say, my house was trashed and I was so far behind on my to-do list. Plus we missed out on a lot of end-of-summer activities. I'm not sure what I had but I think it was some kind of flu. Who knows? So this post is my warning to you-Don't get sick! And if you do I have a few tips that might make it a bit easier on you. Its really just best to prevent it from ever happening though. Here is what you can learn from my horrible week and maybe it can help you! (You probably already know all of this, so its really just a reminder.)

Wash your hands (and your kid's hands) all the time! Before eating, after using the bathroom, after changing diapers, etc. You get the idea.
If you can't be by soap and water, make sure you stock up on hand sanitizer. (Buy tons now because last year when the swine flu started going around it was sold out everywhere.) Keep a big thing of it in your car or your purse. Every time you get back in the car from being somewhere-use it! After every store, after church, after being at a friends house, after school, after shaking people's hands, etc. It may seem like a pain but I promise being sick for a week is a bigger pain! Note: if you are putting hand sanitizer on your kids hands make sure you watch them until it is dry on their hands. It can be very dangerous for them to ingest.
Of course, there are flu vaccinations too but that is a personal decision so I'm going to leave that up to you to research and decide.

Now to prepare in case you do get sick...Here is what you will want on hand because you won't want to go to the store when you are sick.
Make sure you have...
Adult and children's Tylenol (if you have kids) to keep fevers down.
Cough drops
Kleenex with lotion in it. Your nose will thank you :)
Your drink of choice when you have a super sore throat (mine is orange juice).
You may want some NyQuil or DayQuil but I can't really take that stuff because it makes me feel all weird inside.
Already prepared food-freezer meals, lunchables. You won't want to prepare food for your family if you are sick. You'll want to stay out of the kitchen as much as possible so you don't spread your germs.
An electrolyte drink in case there is vomiting or diarrhea involved. My sister sent me a recipe to make your own electrolyte drink which I will post next.

Ok-now its up to you to try to keep your family healthy as much as you can but be prepared just in case sickness strikes. And remember its very important to stay home and away from others so you don't spread it around. I wish whomever passed it to me had done that! (If you are sick don't forget about grocery delivery. Its often free for first timers.)

If you do get sick you can borrow the mantra that I used-"This too shall pass." It helped me feel a little better :)

And for your convenience, here is the link to the CDCs website about the H1N1 flu (swine flu) so you have somewhere to reference if you suspect you may have it.
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/general_info.htm