Back to Germs...er, School

My kids have been home from school for summer break since early June. Since becoming an adult I have taken a great liking to summer time for many reasons, but since having school-age kids HEALTH have become one of them!

During the school year Jay is pretty healthy, aside from allergy-induced illnesses. She's suffered from allergies since she was an infant, and the stress and rigors of her daily life tend to make her allergies exponentially worse. Jay tends to escape the cooties passed around at school, but when she does catch something, her allergy-related symptoms seem to make said bug even worse for her! She tends to do better with a "Mental Health" day here and there just to help take the edge off because she is a pretty intense kid anyway - where school is concerned, even more so.

As a kindergartner, Nas went to school two full days and a half, so I would venture to say he wasn't exposed to as many bugs as he will be this school year, but he was out of school once with a bug a bunch of other kids seemed to have. Aside from that he was pretty healthy. Hopefully the same will hold true for his first grade year.

I try hard to ensure the kids to their part in keeping healthy: washing their hands often (especially before snack and lunch times), keep them home when they are sick, free time to play/relax after school, bedtime no later than 7:45 p.m., and less sugar, more fruit and vegetables. Exercise and healthy foods help bugs pass through the system faster (read: POOP!), which is very important to me. Don't let the bugs linger in their gut and you're good money! I also use disinfectant wipes on common household items every week, even more when a bug is going around, and I leave the windows open for a little daily circulation.

Apparently I'm not the only one thinking "GERMS" as we near the last week of August, Native Remedies published a blog entry about ways to keep kids healthy this school year. Herbal supplements are advised along with many of the tips I've incorporated over the years - I found it funny that their blog also mentioned frequency of poop as a immunity booster.

No one likes to be sick, and as a parent I dislike it even more when my kids are sick, so do the best you can for your kids and I'll do the same...Read: Don't have your kid coughing on mine and I'll try to ensure the same!!