No amount of hand sanitizer or vitamins prevents your kids from falling ill. You can be the most careful, most diligent parent in the world, but one night a child will walk into your bedroom while you sleep soundly and promptly vomit all over the floor next to your bed. Fear not, mom and dad, that same child will then tell you that she already vomited in her bed, her hallway and once for good measure in the living room on her way into your room. That’ll last about 24 hours just until you are ready to give up, and then your little bundle of joy will bounce right back.
The joys of parenting are numerous. Upset tummies will occur. The cold will strike. Someone will be down for the count once and the rest of the family will quickly follow. You can’t stop it from happening to your household, but you can minimize the risks of everyone else getting sick by prioritizing the cleaning of your home following an illness. If you can kill the maximum number of germs, you might be able to save yourself from the tortures of being ill yet again. If there is one thing worse than a sick child, it’s a sick parent who can’t rest.
Photo Credit: thenerderypublic.com
Clean the Little Things
We already know you washed the sheets and towels and bedding your sick little one utilized now that she’s better. Did you wash the little things, though? You probably didn’t, but don’t feel bad. We all forget to clean things we forget even exist. After all, you didn’t even think about the fact that you hugged your sick little one and then promptly walked to the medicine cabinet, grabbed the handle and opened it up. Now that handle has sick child germs all over it. The little things are the ones you don’t even realize need the most cleaning.
– Door handles
– Cabinet knobs and pulls
– Medicine bottles
– The refrigerator door
– The microwave door handle
– Soap dispenser
– The faucet
Each of these things likely all carry sick germs now. You touch your baby and then you touch these items, and that transfers germs. If you clean them regularly throughout the illness, you reduce the spread of germs throughout the house.
Clean the Remote
When kids are sick, they often want to lie down on the couch or in their beds and watch a little television. You don’t mind since you already feel so awful for them. What’s a little more television when a child isn’t able to get up and use her imagination? What about that remote control? Your sick little one likely used this to start “Frozen” over a half dozen times during her illness, and now there are germs all over it. A good idea is to disinfect it using a cotton ball that’s been dipped in rubbing alcohol to remove the germs.
Clean Toothbrushes
Have you ever thrown up and then brushed your teeth to get rid of the taste and the vomit? You do, and you feel so much better for it. What happens when you wake up feeling better and brush your teeth for the day ahead? Now you’re using the same toothbrush you used to clean your vomit-filled mouth, and that’s pretty gross. It’s simple to soak your toothbrush in a little peroxide for approximately five minutes before rinsing to kill germs. Now you’ll feel much better.
Clean the Bathrooms Thoroughly
Clean the toilet. Clean the toilet flushing handle. Clean the sink. Clean the faucets and handles. Clean the countertop. Clean the floor around the toilet. Clean the bath mats on the floor. Clean the towels. If it’s in the bathroom, clean it when everyone is well. That room has more germs that you might imagine, and it’s not a good idea to leave it un-sanitized following illness.
Clean Your Personal Effects
How many times did you walk over to your little one to feel her head while she was sick? Once, twice? Then you picked up your phone and sat back down on the couch. Now your phone has germs on it. What about her tablet or your iPad? Clean them all with an antibacterial wipe, very gently so as not to ruin the surfaces or cause damage.
The only thing less fun than cleaning up after your sick kids is taking care of additional sick people, becoming sick yourself or taking care of someone that relapsed with the same illness (ugh). If that doesn’t make the concept of cleaning up post-illness sound more alluring, we don’t know what does. It’s not fun, but it’s necessary; you will thank us for it later.
Photo Credit: www.medicaldaily.com
Bio –
This guest post is courtesy of Maids by Trade, offering cleaning services in Tucson as well as Green Valley maid services and Oro Valley maid services.