Our "Sickness Routine"

This post is sponsored by HomeRight, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

It’s cold and flu season…we all know the joy that this time of the year brings. Let me ask you…why is it that my kids, WITHOUT FAIL, always choose the middle of the night to decide to get sick?! It’s some law of physics that they are feeling fine before bed, but right around that perfect REM sleep cycle between midnight and 3 a.m. someone wakes up puking…and of course it’s no where near a bathroom. UGHHHH. SOOOO…with that said and with all the stress that ensues the rest of the night, I have my own little “Sickness Routine” that I perform (almost sounds like I’m doing a rain dance or something LOL) to rid my house of the death-like flu symptoms that ensue. My family thinks I’m nuts, but it’s like an art…you know what you need to do and while your husband is washing up your little ones, you get to work to do your damnedest that no one else catches what the first one is throwing down.

So let’s walk through how this goes down…

Someone in your house gets sick…

I start by dealing with the mess at hand, which inevitably is always the worst part. Get those sheets clean, get the kids in the bathroom, get them in clean, warm clothes. While one parent is dealing with the sick child, the other is HUNKERING DOWN and preparing for war.

Prepare for the worst…

I start by pulling any nice things off the bed, anything that can’t be washed, things that can be stained. I put old sheets on the bed and lay old sheets or old towels on the floor beside the bed…because you can never be too careful! I always grab a large bowl or bucket too…you know, just in case round 2 starts up before your kids are ready,

Get equipped…

The next day, when we’re inevitably cooped up in the house trying to keep our kids in bed (despite the fact that they’re ill), I start by ordering our groceries and either getting them delivered or picked up. Don’t you dare take that sick kid out to the store to get others sick too! Walmart.com let’s you order your groceries online for free…take advantage of it.

On my grocery list for stomach bugs is:

bananas
rice
applesauce
saltines
grape juice (for me)
chicken broth
lemon ginger tea
coffee (for me, duh…)
probiotics (for the rest of us)

Does grape juice prevent stomach bugs?

Do you know why you need to buy grape juice for a stomach bug? Have you heard the “myth”? Is it really a myth? So the theory is that the acid in grape juice (100% grape juice) helps prevent the stomach bug from spreading. So when someone in your family has the stomach bug, the rest of you should start drinking grape juice to prevent yourselves from getting the stomach flu. Don’t give it to people already sick…it’s too late. Science says this is complete BS…but I tell you what…it’s never failed me if I start drinking it RIGHT AWAY.

Next up…the cleaning routine

So your pantry is now stocked with stomach bug friendly foods, you’ve got your grape juice to try to keep you sick, your family is taking their vitamins and probiotics…but now you gotta get cleaning and disinfecting! Don’t wait!! Usually at night, I start by grabbing some bleach wipes and wiping down door handles and sinks before everyone gets up…just to try to combat the spread of germs. The next morning though, it’s ON! I bust out my catch all for germ fighting…my HomeRight SteamMachine Elite.

I bust out my attachment for my floors and get to work steam cleaning the floors and bathrooms so that I know that 99% of the germs are being taken care of and I’m leaving my family in the best position we can be in to fight the spread of the bug.

Start by steam cleaning the floors then the bathrooms…

Change out the attachments on your steam cleaner to accommodate where you are cleaning. I spend a ton of time in the bathroom (obviously), to make sure it’s germ free.

After I finish the bathroom, I start hitting all the common areas of the house. Run your steam cleaner over the door handles, the refrigerator handles, sinks, anything that you can think of that might pass along germs. It should only take you about 15 minutes total and the nice thing is you’re just using the power of steam…so it dries and you’re not using a dirty rag or harsh cleaning products that you have to worry about.

And of course…

Once all your cleaning and laundry is done and you’ve steam cleaned the house away into a sterile environment your doctor’s office would be proud of, the best way to get everyone feeling better is to put on your favorite movie, cuddle up, and get some rest!