How My Family Prepares for the Cold and Flu Season!

This post is written by me on behalf of Geometry Global. All opinions are entirely my own. This shop has been compensated by Acorn Influence, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve likely followed along as Lilly’s asthma acts up with each season change.  If not, let me say we have been on a roller coaster of colds, coughing fits, and hospital stays over the last few years.  I must be extremely careful to the point of obsession when it comes to cold germs or even worse the flu around her.  What would normally be a few days to a week of feeling yucky and run down for the average person, can quickly turn into pneumonia, low oxygen levels, constant nebulizer treatments, and days in the hospital for Lilly.

I know Lilly’s case is extreme, but all kids are miserable when they get sick.  Plus, once Lilly catches a cold it can quickly go through the entire house.  The boys will catch it from playing together or sharing a cup, then Aidan will want to do nothing but snuggle on the couch for the entire day.  This will lead to my husband and I catching the nasty virus and in the end, even without hospital trips we are left dragging ourselves out of piles of laundry, makeup work from school, and an endless to-do list.

We all know how draining cold season can be once it strikes so I try to prepare for it as much as possible in an effort to prevent the virus from taking over my house.

What we do to keep the cold virus away:

Wash hands:  this seems like a no brainer, but with kids they sometimes need reminders.  Luckily, Lilly is a hand washing pro from watching an episode about it one “The Magic School Bus” and she constantly tells the boys what they are doing wrong.

Keep surfaces, switches, door knobs, and other high traffic areas disinfected.  During my daily cleaning I use an antibacterial wipe and quickly wipe down all the little spots that can easily be hotbeds for germs.

Stay healthy, I try my hardest to keep everyone active, hydrated, and nourished from a healthy diet so that their immunity is higher and their bodies have all the nutrients they need to fight off any virus’s that they come in contact with.

I always stock up on cold season supplies, I make sure our thermometer has batteries and is working.  The same thing goes for our humidifier and oximeter.  Most importantly I stock up on Kleenex!  
I don’t want everyone sneezing and coughing into their hands and then spreading those germs everywhere they touch, and as parents, we know how gross it is to turn a shirt right side out while doing laundry to find that a little someone has wiped a day’s worth of snot on their sleeves.  So, Kleenex are a must, but I don’t trust just any tissue to help keep the cold virus from spreading.  We use Kleenex Anti-Viral tissues because they kill 99.9% of cold and flu viruses.  How amazing is that?  The active ingredients in the middle layer disrupt the viruses’ protective coating and kills the virus in the tissue within 15 minutes.

Help prevent the virus’s from spreading at school too.  As much as I wipe surfaces and keep my kids hands clean at home, the cold virus still likes to circulate at school.  So, be your child’s teacher’s cold season hero and send a 4 pack of Kleenex Anti-Viral Facial Tissues that are available at Walmart, to school for your child’s classroom.

Plus, each box comes with Box-Tops, which schools always appreciate.

I try my hardest not to let the cold virus sneak up on my family and Kleenex Anti-Viral is making it easier this season.
So, for now I am waiting for cold season to be over dreaming of the fresh summer air.

How do you prepare for cold season in your family?

Disclaimer: *In the tissue in 15 minutes.  Virucidal against: Rhinoviruses Type 1A and 2 (Rhinoviruses are the leading cause of the common cold); Influenza A and Influenza B (causes of the flu); Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV – the leading cause of lower respiratory infection in children).