Tips for Cold and Flu Season

 Remember how I said that Jill has been blurting out words?

“Stuffins” has been one.  It’s one of her favorite shows.  She yells “Stuffins!!!” and points to the TV.

Naturally, I had to get her a little Doc doll.  Naturally.

The toy medical kit has been in pretty heavy rotation recently.

Dolls are examined and prescribed medications.

Lucy often asks if they’ve been “taking their meds”.

On the one hand it’s funny to hear my bigger kids…the ones used to us speaking of medical concerns…but on the other hand, it makes me sad that they even know what it is.

Jilly always says “Owwwwww” when she gives her girls a shot.

We had an eye doctor appointment yesterday…before anyone even touched her, she started whimpering and saying “Owwww”.  People in scrubs hurt.

Or so she believes.

So we’re trying to encourage her and play “doctor” so that she doesn’t always associate everything medical with pain.

We listen to dolly heart beats.

We check their temperature.

We give them band aids.

We make sure their eyes are looking good.

Ariel too.

Because always Ariel. In preparation of the impending cold and flu season, I thought I would share a simple tip for staying even just a little bit more sane. I have this board on Pinterest called Why Didn’t I Think of That?! It’s that stuff you see that so completely, ridiculously simple…yet so Thank You Sweet Baby Jesus This Is Going To Change My Life I Just Can’t Believe It Took Me This Long To Figure It Out stuff. Today, I present to you a gloriously simple, non-earth shattering idea…that just might save your sanity. At least it did mine.

This house, the one we bought, is the first house I have EVER lived in that is two stories. With that, I have vowed that if I can help it, I will NEVER buy another two story house.  It’s just too much people. Every time I’m upstairs, the thing I need is downstairs.  When I’m downstairs, stuff is upstairs. My phone rarely rings.  When it does?  You can bet it’s on whatever level of the house that I’m NOT on. Every. Single. Time. Fast forward to sick kids.  It’s a miserable thing to have kids that are sick.  The last thing you want to do is hunt down that ONE bottle of baby medicine.  Not only which level of the house it might be in…but also which bathroom you put it last. I know, I know.  #firstworldproblems “I can’t remember which of my multiple bathrooms, in my multi-level home I left my easily accessible medication that I can afford is! It’s kinda gross.  Let’s try to not think about that too much. Moving on… So, you have a hot feverish kid who wants no one but his mama.  He’s whimpering and sad and you motion for your husband to bring you the meds. And then…that moment you dread: “Where is it?” “Um…..I don’t know.  Somewhere.  Maybe in the bathroom.  Or was it the kitchen?  Didn’t I leave it in the master bath?  Or was it the little bathroom downstairs?”  ACK! So he huffs off on a wild goose chase for this elusive little bottle of medication…and then you yell after him “And the thermometer too!” “Where’s THAT?” “I mean, in some of those same places.  I think.” Twenty minutes later he comes back. With gas drops. And the rectal thermometer. For your 6 year old.

Now, I’m convinced one of you will comment “Just buy more than one bottle of medicine and keep one on each level of the house!” Right.  Except that somehow I end up with FOUR mysterious bottles…all of which are somehow in the same cabinet…and which are somehow in the last cabinet I looked in.  Logical answers still elude our family.  We must go even simpler. And so, I invented: The Medicine Basket. I know.  It’s not that exciting.  But LIFE. CHANGING.  Legit. A $1 plastic basket.  Chalk full of every kid medicine you can think of.  Plus tissues.  Plus thermometers.  And vasoline.  And that nasty smelling stuff you rub on their chest at night.  Name it.  It’s in there. And it has a handle.  So your husband can’t possibly bring you the wrong thing because he brought you ALL THE THINGS. It is all, gloriously, there. In one place. “Hey babe, can you bring me the green basket of meds?” “Sure.” He returns. With the right stuff. Marital bliss. And then…get this: if you’re downstairs cuddling your sick babe, and it’s time for bed…you just take the whole basket upstairs with you. It’s like I’m a genius. Do they teach these things in medical school?  Because they should. But really.  I’m totally serious.  The green basket is probably one of my favorite ideas.  It is almost painfully simple, but I couldn’t imagine life without it. BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! Leave a comment answering the question below for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card!  For real! How do you keep your kids healthy on the go with snack ideas or other fun activities?

Season 2 of Doc McStuffins begins on Disney Junior with new episodes every Friday beginning September 6! Jill is going to be SO excited!  And you can watch tips for keeping your kids healthy from Doc McStuffins herself!

Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
“b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the
following unique term in your tweet message: “”#SweepstakesEntry””; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post”
c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 8/30/2013 – 9/27/2013

This sweepstakes is not administered or endorsed by Disney.

Be sure to visit the Doc McStuffins Brand Page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

• Bio
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Latest Posts

jeannett

I'm a mom to four. A wife to one. I believe in story. I love telling you about mine and would love to hear yours. There's really no sense in wasting our suffering and not sharing in each other's joy. We're all in this together...even if it doesn't always feel like it.

@jeannettg

Follow @jeannettg

jeannett

Latest posts by jeannett (see all)

• Dirt in a Jar, Laundry Scientists, and Clean Water - October 20, 2015
• Because Cake. - October 11, 2015
• How to design a luxury bathroom for less - August 12, 2015