Protect And Fight Germs In This Season


It's that time of year that everybody seems to get sick. In large families like ours, when one person gets sick it can spread quickly from person to person. That nasty cold that has so many people sick this winter hit our family a few weeks ago. My preventative medicine of homemade chicken soup was not enough to fight it. My first choice for cough medicine is Robitussin (my Granny's advice!) and at one point all five of us were taking it. Thankfully, the coughs are gone now. 

When just one kiddo is sick, our family dynamics change. I'll never forget the Christmas Eve my daughter was too sick to enjoy the festivities. I recorded it in our family album: 

Hindsight is 20/20 right? I know now, and I've since then turned to Children’s Advil®. 

These tips from doctors have me now taking another look at telephones and iPad screens. Time for a deep clean! 

Recognizing “Ew”Pediatric doctor Dr. Nina Shapiro and microbiologist Dr. Charles Gerba share their expertise on how germs exist beyond what meets the eye and how to get kids back to being kids again when germs cause those Sick just got real.™ moments
Germs at play
·         The sun's ultraviolet light rays kill bacteria, so playground equipment in the shade will have more bacteria. 
·         Sandboxes are a germ culprit, particularly if they remain uncovered overnight, which allows bacteria to enter. 
·         Any microorganisms on kids’ hands will spread to monkey bars, slides, teeter totters, swings and other touched surfaces where other children can then pick them up when playing.

Germ class is in session 
·         Half of students don’t wash their hands after using the bathroom  – and of those who do many don’t even use soap. 
·         Less than one-third of teachers said they regularly disinfect germ-laden objects in the classroom. 
·         Desks often have more bacteria than a toilet seat and if eating happens in class, the number of germs multiplies. 
·         Up to 2.7 million bacterial cells per square inch live on common school surfaces such as water fountains, desks, computer keyboards, bus seats and cafeteria trays.
·         Shared technology in classrooms introduces new high-touch surfaces for spreading germs – the computer mouse, keyboard and tablet surfaces have some of the highest germ counts. 
o   Each keyboard key contains up to 1.3 million germs—that’s more than 135 million germs on the entire keyboard, and a standard iPad screen has up to 192 million bacteria
“Ew” is in the air 
·         In addition to school and the playground, the supermarket is a festival of “ew”, with shopping carts, credit card machines and reusable grocery bags acting as the leading germ carriers. 
·         Some germs can live on dry surfaces, such as toys, for several hours.
·         Colds and other respiratory infections are spread by the hands and touching the nose or eyes, while 81 percent of people with the flu virus spread it through the air when they cough.  
·         Most kids touch up to 20 objects per minute and touch their face 50 times per hour – leading to wide germ spreading. 

Say goodbye to perfect attendance 
·         More than 38 million school days are missed by U.S. children each year due to the flu.
·         Parents miss about 126 million workdays annually caring for a sick child, which equates to 40 billion lost dollars.
·         Missing work to stay home with their sick kids and worrying about sickness outbreaks going around the classroom were the top concerns parents have when their child is sick at school. 

Information about Pfizer Pediatric products:
Kids get sick no matter how much you do to prevent it.  The pediatric brands of Pfizer Consumer Healthcare are there with three solutions – Children’s Advil®, Children’s Robitussin® and Children’s Dimetapp® – to tackle the “ew”iest of symptoms. 

For your child’s cough, trust Children's Robitussin® Extended-Release 12 Hour Cough Relief to control and relieve symptoms all-day or all- night. Available in grape or orange flavor, for children ages 4 and up. Please note that while most Children’s Robitussin® products can be used starting at age 4, some are only for children age 6 and up.


·Sick just got real.™ website
·Sick just got real.™ Facebook page

Taste is another issue for me, and this new Robitussin fits my needs. The grape flavored liquid is for children (4 and over) AND ADULTS! It's like they heard my request! Next time I need cough relief, this will be what I reach for. 

My sister just came home from the hospital. After taking my phone there with me while visiting her, rereading those tips makes me want to disinfect it again.

So how do you avoid germs?


  1. We try to eat healthy, wash hands well, and get lots of rest. Thankfully, homeschooling allows us to do many of those!

    1. All of that is so important. We don't eat healthy enough.

  2. We don't eat healthy enough either. Thankfully we usually make it through cold and flu season without suffering too much - although last week. Oh my word. We all had bad head colds.

    How nice is it that they make cough/cold syrup in grape flavor for adults?! Thank you. :-)

    1. Sometimes those little things make a big difference. I hope you are all feeling better.

  3. My daughter has a hard time taking cough meds as she cannot stand the taste of it. No matter the flavor. That's all I use with the kids is advil because tylenol always makes their fevers go up more. Hope you all get to feeling better.

  4. i actually don't try to fight germs, I just deal with them when they come. :)


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