Illness at 523, how we prepare, prevent and comfort when the cold and flu come around

It's one thing when you get sick or your spouse, but I find it's quite different when BOTH of you are sick PLUS your child. Yep, that's how this family rolls here at 523....we share everything under our roof, including our illness. Today I wanted to share with you how we try to prevent, prepare for and take care of sickness in our home.

First up is medicine, whether it be the drugstore version, homeopathic route or even just tissues, hot water bottles and heating pads, you still need to make sure you have what you need on hand if and when your family gets sick. I like to use January 1st to check the medicine cabinet and throw out the old and replace with the new. While my family may not get sick each year, I still like to keep my items on hand so I'm not bundling up my sick little boy, dragging him to to the store and battling checkouts, just for medicine. I would rather know that I have what I need and I can keep him home and in bed to get the most rest possible. So if you haven't checked your medicine cabinet in a while, see if you can take just 5 minutes and run through a basket or two, just to make sure you have the basics and toss a few expired. You don't have to do this all in one day, just a few minutes a day will get your cabinet in ship shape for the cold and flu season.

Next tip is if your family gets sick and you now have the germs living in your home you might as well take the time to spray the hard surfaces with a disinfectant spray. There are many natural disinfectant sprays that you can make at home using oils, vinegar or peroxide or you can use store options like Lysol sprays. Either way you go, I think its a good step....especially if only one person is sick. If you catch it early enough you might eliminate the rest of the family catching the bug. Now, you might think this would take a ton of time but it doesn't. I timed myself, it only took me 4 minutes to spray the hard surfaces (door handles, light switches, cabinet tops, etc) in my home and hopefully help rid it of the nasty virus.

Ok, prevention is another topic I want to discuss. Whether you believe in homeschooling or staying at home to keep your family away from the cold / flu virus, getting the flu vaccines, taking vitamins, having a healthy diet and exercise, etc., it's helpful to use some sort of prevention method. Caleb goes to school and Brad and I both go into offices with many employees. We chose this lifestyle and it comes with it's pros and cons. Obviously a con is that we are exposed to many people and many types of colds. We have to combat this as best we can and some of the things we do are getting plenty of rest, drinking our water, other things we do are to remind Caleb of washing his hands often (and us doing the same). The school has antibacterial dispensers EVERYWHERE so I'm not concerned in that sense, and all kids like to play with the dispensers, so I'm sure he gets a (possibly too heavy) dose of that on his hands many times during the school day.

I don't ONLY rely on all of those, I actually feel that your home can be a harbor to the many things we bring home and I feel it's best to make sure you are keeping it, not just tidy, but actually cleaned and not just during cold season. Cleaning your home is a good prevention step in helping to keep families healthy, plus it's a comfort to be able to rest and recover in a clean home. So I like to do my best to keep up on my cleaning routines, in hopes that it will help keep our home a little healthier and more comfortable.

This brings me to something that I think everyone needs when sick. It's the "comforts of home". There are many things that can be under that topic but I will share with you three things that I feel bring comfort to our home during illness. For starters, I don't love cleaning but I don't despise it either. I have a very easy cleaning routine and can do many a blog posts on that topic because I feel that I have excelled in that area of my life. But I'm not going to do that today. Instead I will share with you some things that I feel are helpful (if anything, in bringing my own self peace of mind) to our home if and when illness strikes.

I think about when someone is feeling sick and how good a long shower or bath can feel. Or, if you have the stomach bug and how the bathroom turns into your make shift bedroom. You want a peaceful and SANITARY sanctuary for all of that. I especially want a clean toilet if my son is clinging to it with the stomach virus. Therefore, each day, as part of my morning routine, I will clean all three of our bathrooms. It only takes me three minutes to clean each one. I will spray the shower / tub with cleaner, spray the vanity and tub with cleaner, squirt some in the toilet bowl and then wipe, brush and rinse it all. I don't spend 30 minutes on my showers scrubbing each week to get soap scum off, because it never really gets the chance to build up when you clean it each day. I know that there is less likely of a chance encounter of "dribbles" on the toilets when they are wiped each day and there is an added benefit of knowing that your family has a clean throne to sit upon or get sick in if need be.

Another example of "comforts of home" would be something so simple as fixing the family a soup for lunch or dinner. While I don't know if there are actual real benefits of soup, it seems to be a real comfort item in our home, especially when my boys are sick. I will be making a pot of soup for dinner tonight for Caleb to help make him feel a little better during his recovery time.

My last example of a comfort item in a home are the quilts, blankets or bedding. It wasn't until I had my own family to care for that I realized what a true comfort these blankets can be. We at 523 are very blessed to have these old quilts from my great, great grandmother and they were given to me because I am the only one who will put them to use (or so I was told). My other siblings have stored theirs away for safe keeping because they were all handmade and one of a kind, but not me. Our quilts are very well used and loved, my grandmother said that was the reason she gave me the quilts.

These heirlooms are ESPECIALLY loved during times of illness in our home. For some reason the boys like to camp out on the couch when they are sick, rarely in their bed. And they will always grab the quilts to cover themselves up with. I like to sleep on my bed when I'm sick but I will grab a quilt and lay on top of my bed comforter and cover up with the quilt. Strange as it may sound, we do this because the quilts have a cool warmth to sleep with. They keep you warm, but for some reason they have this cooling feeling from them and they are just of great comfort in our home. These quilts are not just used during times of sickness but all the time. When my sisters come over, they are usually the first to grab the quilts because we keep it too cold in our house for them. Of course this goes back to the cleaning routine. I wash these quilts about every other week. More if we have been sick. Its so nice to have the fresh clean smell of these blankets not only when we feel our worst but anytime we or anyone else wants to snuggle up in our home.

And that's all I have for my tips. We try our best to prevent, in the meantime we prepare and if it arrives we comfort. What about you? How do you prevent, prepare and comfort cold and flu in your home? Let me know in the comment section below. I would love to hear your tips and tricks.

I hope you enjoyed my post today and will be back for another, until next time, take care!!

-Kim