I recently had the privilege of chatting with Dr. Gwenn, of Pediatrics Now, about keeping moms healthy during flu season. She reminded us of how pivotal our roles are and when we are sick, the home will suffer unless we are prepared.
Her explanation says it all, “Moms are the family planner, hostess, chauffeur, entertainment director, sports and music lesson coordinator, cook, laundress, among other roles including careers in and out of the home. As pivot points of the home, Moms must stay healthy and strong for everyone: family, friends, neighbors, co-workers.”
There are two ways we can be prepared. The first, is to keep ourselves healthy. Dr. Gwenn suggests we get both the seasonal flu shot and the H1N1. We have heard numerous times what we should do: get enough sleep, take a multi-vitamin, eat a healthy diet, etc. While we have all heard what we should do, now is the time to take it seriously and follow through.
My favorite part of our discussion was her back-up plan. I loved this! Despite our best efforts, we just might get the flu this season and we should be prepared. Her back up plan includes:
- Have prepared meals at the ready in the freezer. Eat At Home has a menu of freezable options here. Allrecipes.com has a freezable Vegetable Soup here. If you want to get even more serious about stocking the freezer, Amazon has several freezer cooking books, including The Freezer Cooking Manual from 30 Day Gourmet: A Month of Meals Made Easy.
- Keep a schedule of family members’ activities with days, times and places handy.
- Have doctors numbers on the fridge.
- Know who your “go to” person will be if you are sick.
- Have a friend or neighbor on-call for errand running or kid-chauffeuring.
- Have your sick day supplies, or “flu toolbox” on hand. This could include a wide variety of items, but don’t forget tissues, ibuprofen, working thermometer
, decongestants, sanitizing wipes, etc.
We can plan on taking care of these items “later” but this might be the year to prioritize and take care of the list early. If we get sick and the back-up plan is in place, the only thing we will have to worry about is getting well.
Walgreen’s was a gracious sponsor of our chat and I learned a little more about their Take Care Clinics. The clinics are especially great if you are strapped for time. If you choose to get vaccinated, both you and your children can get the injections in the same visit and you don’t need to make an extra stop to pick up your household necessities and prescriptions.
Lastly, Robin at Pensieve has a fantastic flu prevention article on her site. Some of the tips she shared, were new to me. I have also linked back to one of my previous articles called The Necessary Items for an Unexpected Sick Child.
I hope you stay healthy this season!
This post has been linked to: Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic
{ 3 Comments }
Those are great tips. I try to stay stocked up on children’s motrin and tylenol as well as the adult versions of those drugs. I also like to keep instant chicken soup and jello on hand for tummies that don’t feel like much more than that.
The menu on Eat at Home also includes Virus Killing Soup, a fantastic homemade chicken soup that can be made ahead and frozen.
Excellent advice! Much appreciated.
These are all GREAT!!! tips
Geri