How to get a clean bill of health
By Whitney
I just returned from a doctor’s visit where I went to seek treatment for a sinus infection. I could hardly hear anything he said due to the presence of my two small children who unfortunately accompanied me to the appointment. I gleaned from the way he nodded his head towards the kids, who were tussling on the floor over a baggie of banana chips, that he was blaming them for the transfer of germs that caused my ailment.
Preschoolers are little germ sponges. As you can see in this picture, my daughter (brunette) is on the receiving end of affection from her little friend. This type of behavior is too cute to be discouraged, don’t you think?
So I’m not going to keep them away from each other, and I do encourage my own kids to share food, but you can see why we all get each other’s colds.
My blogging partner here at Safety at Home is a neurotic hand-washer, running to the restroom as soon as she enters any house or restaurant for a quick scrub. For the rest of us less careful folks, however, perhaps some tips will help us ramp up our hand-washing frequency, thereby squashing our encounters with viruses and bacteria this winter.
- If you can convince your school or day care facility to put a bottle of hand sanitizer outside of the door, everyone can apply it to their hands before entering.
- Use soap and water for hand-washing. If warm water is available, use it.
- Wash hands before preparing or eating food.
- Wash hands after toileting or helping a child with diapers or the toilet.
- Wash hands after nose blowing or helping a child with tissue use.
- Dry hands with a towel, air dryer or paper towel. If using a public restroom, try not to touch anything after hand-washing. Use a paper towel to turn off water and open the door.
(Source: CDC)
An earlier post that might inspire you to carry hand sanitizer on your body at all times: Take off shoes; Wash hands.
Yeah, you say I’m a crazy person, but aren’t you recommending my tactics? Hmmm.