Cold & Flu Season 2010

I am a four seasons girl.  I love playing in puddles, watching flowers bloom, and planting my garden in the spring.  I love to swim, eat fresh veggies, and catch fireflies in the summer.  Fall brings the crunching of leaves, watching football, and the comfort of my favorite sweater.  Winter means ice skating and sledding followed by hot cocoa next to a warm fire.   The one season I could definitely do without, is cold and flu season. 

As soon as the girls head back to school in the fall, I know that cold and flu season is right around the corner.  It starts with a tiny sniffle or a scratchy throat . . . and works its way around everyone in the school (and my house!)  We do what we can to avoid the sniffles and coughs, though so far they seem almost unavoidable.  We have been able to avoid the flu so far though.  (Where's some wood? . . . knock, knock, knock).

Here's what we have done, and will continue to do (until it stops working for us):

• Wash our hands - I am pretty diligent about requiring the girls to wash their hands before eating, after sneezing, or whenever we come in from being out and about around other people.  
• Cough and Sneeze into our elbows - It is as simple as it sounds.  By not catching sneezes and coughs with our hands we are less likely to spread them to others. 
• Keep your hands off your face - Your face has too many mucous membranes.  We try to avoid giving the germs on our hands direct access to the rest of our bodies.
• Eat right and exercise - By making healthy choices and keeping our bodies in the best possible condition we like to think that we are at an advantage to fight off the germs that find their way in.
• Flu vaccination - While I don't like getting colds, I hate having the stomach flu.  By getting the flu vaccine every year (when we are healthy), we feel like we are just a bit more likely to avoid it.

In fact, according to the CDC:

• Everyone 6 months of age and older is recommended to be vaccinated against the flu.
• The flu vaccine provides protection that lasts through the flu season.
• The flu vaccine is updated each season to protect against the three flu viruses that research indicates will cause the most illness.
• You need to get the 2010-11 seasonal flu vaccine even if you got the 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine last season.
• If you or your kids do not like shots, the flu vaccine is also available in mist form. For more information on this, ask your doctor or visit www.cdc.gov/flu.

No matter what you do to stay healthy during this cold and flu season, I hope it works for you and your family.  If you have any remedies or tips that you swear by, I'd love to hear them.  I'm always ready to research a new idea that might keep my own family healthier as well.

*Disclaimer - I wrote this blog post while participating in a TwitterMoms blogging program for which I may receive a small thank you (valued at less than $20).” For more information on how you can participate, click here.  Information from this post came from TwitterMoms and the CDC.  Any information on this post that was not directly from TwitterMoms or the CDC is my own opinion.  I am not a doctor nor a scientist and therefore you should not take it as fact.