I took my son to his annual checkup last week and asked his doctor about the coming school year. Specifically, I wanted information on how I could better prepare my kids – and thus, myself – for the annual attack of the germs.
You know how it is, right? You prepare for all the things. You buy the backpacks, lunchboxes, and more school supplies than you think your child could use in a year. You hit up all the sales for new clothes, go to the consignments and purchase everything your child will wear for the entire fall and winter term.
You’re all prepared and school starts in two days. Right?
But then your kid goes to school and comes home with all the things. Including the germs. Suddenly you’re battling the stomach bug, the flu, the annual ever-changing Covid, and whatever else is popular amongst the kiddos this year. You’re rushing to buy your cold meds, allergy meds, homeopathic remedies, and whatever other items might combat this influx of illness. Every year it’s the same. Sure, our kids somehow develop their little immune systems and bring home less, but if you have more than one kid, you know that little kindergartner who looks so adorable with his first day pictures is going to be the start of another year of “pass the illness” when his immune system gets battered in a sea of snot-nosed kids.
I asked my pediatrician for her top tips, and she gave me some great ones to share (and ones I’m going to implement with my kids this year). Just know that I share this out of love and because I want all of you to keep your kids healthy and safe. (And maybe a little selfishly – would you please keep your kids home when they’re sick? I’m kidding…mostly.)
Here are some things I’m going to start doing with my kids, especially the kindergartner when he gets home from school this year:
As always, the top tip from the doctor is handwashing! It’s a simple but effective way to rid yourself of traveling germs. Not only should you remind your kids to wash their hands during the day at school – especially after bathroom breaks and before lunch – but also as soon as they get home. A great step in trying to halt the entry of germs in the home is to have a policy that your kids walk in the door, drop their bags at the door (or wherever you have them put theirs) and head straight to the bathroom to wash up.
Related to this is to emphasize good hygiene in general. Make sure your kids are comfortable with their hygiene rituals. This includes reminding them to brush their teeth twice daily and get their showers or baths taken. Having a routine to get clean will help them ward off any hitchhiking germs.
Wash any water bottles and food containers each night. I’m guilty of not doing this in the past, but I plan to change this. Since I run my dishwasher nightly anyway, it should be a simple thing to put my kids’ water bottles in there and make sure they get washed before the next day.
If your child’s teacher communicates that several kids are out sick or you hear about it via social media, have your kids take a shower or bath as soon as they get home. Let’s be honest; sometimes we don’t get the information from the teachers because they aren’t able to share it with us, but most of us are part of social media groups to keep updated on things happening at school. When you see people start discussing sick kids, take note. And especially if the school itself makes an announcement, you’ll want to get your kids showering more frequently so they can bring in fewer germs.
Discuss proper food etiquette. This might not matter for older kids, but make sure you’re talking to your younger kids about not eating or drinking after others. If a friend wants to share, that’s great, but you need to make sure your child understands sharing doesn’t mean drinking after someone or taking a bite of something their friend has already eaten. I know it’s tempting, but kids need to learn that’s just another way germs can get into their bodies and potentially make them sick.
This wasn’t something the pediatrician suggested, but something I plan to do this year: Prepare for illness anyway. My son will be in kindergarten after never having been in a preschool program. I know he’s going to bring home some delightful germs and we’ll have a game of musical chairs on which family member gets to enjoy the illness next. I plan to buy a few things ahead of time to at least try to mitigate this. I’m going to make sure my home is stocked with cleaning supplies for wiping down surfaces and hopefully stopping the spread of germs. I’ll also update my medicine cabinet for the fall semester so I have things I might need, like fever reducers, cold and cough syrups, and nausea remedies.
I hope these tips help you (and me) prepare for a healthy school year! It’s tough preparing for another school year with all the changes that take place, but with a little extra effort, hopefully we and our kids can avoid the worst of the germs and enjoy this next year!
