An early New Year's Day resolution-to our health!
Yeah, yeah they're made to be broken I know. Maybe getting a head start will help? So here's mine, join in if you dare! As a bunch of you already know, my family has had a tough time with health the last few months. Kai just got out of the hospital after a week's stay for pneumonia last week, and Lucas is recovering from tonsillitis at the moment. Then there is Kenji's back and well, anyway...so because I'm the worst at implementing common sense preventative strategies for anything..although I speak passionately about not wanting my kids to be on antibiotics all the time etc, I decided I needed to pull out the oh, so simple good habits that I/we never get around to doing. I'll share with you, maybe you have the same problem, or at least you can keep me accountable.
I REALLY want to help my family be healthier, and some of us have more trouble with catching things than others. So today in speaking with Nai-Nai, resident grandma and wise woman, about my aversion to getting the flu vaccine and my qualms about not!(my typical flip-flop can't decide what's best, drive you crazy kind of stuff!)she told me she has never gotten it herself and doesn't plan on it, and shared what she does to keep herself healthy during the cold/flu season. They are incredibly common sense things and she maintains that for the last two winters of doing them she has not had a bad cold or flu episode. I'll add a few things I've gathered along the way and don't do well enough, all very random and incomplete and all that...so without further ado(hmm, I'm good at ado I think...)here's my list!
1. avoid large crowds.........
HA! okay, threw that in because it's the one that makes you sigh and quit reading, as the same season that brings the cold and flu brings all kinds of gathering and shopping and going out, so outside of possibly me, we probably won't all become hermits for the winter..
2. Wash your hands and gargle when you return from being out.
I'd never heard of gargling to rinse germs from your throat on a routine basis(unless you already had a sore throat and used salt water) until I lived in Japan the first time. This is a routine drilled into kids from kindergarten, they do it several times during the day, Sage is no exception.Although I thought it odd and anal retentive admittedly at first, I'm all about it at the moment! I have read about it since then, for allergy sufferers after being out. Nai-Nai says after doing this for some time she can almost feel the moment she gets something foreign in her throat, she feels something sticking there or something and if she gargles right away she is fine, but if she is, for instance, at the hairdresser's under the dryer, (real story here:)and can't rinse right away, than she inevitably gets a cold.
3. Rinse your nose out twice a day and after being in large crowds...I was familiar with this one in the form of nose spray, but Nai-Nai says that what she heard and does is as simple as when you wash your face in the am/pm, suck a little water into your nose. Not only does it rinse the germs out, it moistens your mucous membranes, which is one of your bodies first defenses against attack by viruses and bacteria. Not only do viruses thrive in the drier weather, your nose and mouth tend to be drier which keeps them from being as effective at getting rid of them. According to a man she saw on TV or somewhere(great sources here huh!), after 40 years of chronic colds etc he started doing this and his colds were reduced to a few a year. It's good to do after you come home too, when you gargle and wash your hands.Despite the intial ewww response to this, which she said you do have at first, you get used to it. I tried it today and although it reminds you of those awful episodes when you sucked water while swimming, afterwards your nose feels fresh! And what better than a fresh nose I ask....
(remember the accountability thing, I'm waiting for "so, have you sucked any water up your nose today???")
4. And speaking of moist mucous membranes and dry weather...my mom's favorite...DRINK LOTS OF WATER. and no, caffeinated drinks do NOT count! My kids are getting called to the kitchen for enforced watering these days...ha! they're getting good at it too. Although Sage and I don't get sick as often, we get thickened mucous and postnasal drip/cough, yeah, aren't you glad you know that about us! from an MSN article today I read that although postnasal drip is a normal part of our body function, the mucous is normally so thin we don't notice it. However in dry conditions the mucous gets thicker and drier and then you get that cough and all that other nasty stuff, can I just say yuck!
5.Another interesting one from Nai-Nai, when you come home from being out and about, take off your coat outside and shake it off, then hang it ideally outside of your living area, in an entrance, or somewhere you won't have it around you, as it can harbor many germs.
6.Get plenty of sleep, ha, as I'm typing this one late at night.
7.Eat plenty of fresh fruits and veggies and hang back on the sugar and prepared foods---can I just say Thanksgiving and Christmas anyone---here's another one we're all going to compromise on- am I right??
8.Don't touch your mouth and face while out and about, nose too, kids! ha, I have yet to see my kids be able to not do this, but it makes you feel better to say it, right? We like to use those little bottles of alcohol handwash stuff when we are out, when we are on top of it enough to remember it. For those who care, it isn't like antibacterial soap, it's okay to use frequently.
9. This stuff won't work unless you make them true habits and do them everytime, which is honestly, for some of us, not a big probability. So I'm praying that God will help me in the task to be responsible and to remember and go the distance with being consistent in helping the kids develop the same habits. I am truly not good at consistency, so looking at forming new habits like these often just send me into despondancy as I look at my previous track record, so today, like Paul, I choose to look forward and not back, one babystep at a time(for those Flylady fans of you out there.
10. Oh, I almost forgot, last but not least, for my mother and those who know her best-DON'T SHARE DRINKS! hee, hee. And she's right, of course....
I REALLY want to help my family be healthier, and some of us have more trouble with catching things than others. So today in speaking with Nai-Nai, resident grandma and wise woman, about my aversion to getting the flu vaccine and my qualms about not!(my typical flip-flop can't decide what's best, drive you crazy kind of stuff!)she told me she has never gotten it herself and doesn't plan on it, and shared what she does to keep herself healthy during the cold/flu season. They are incredibly common sense things and she maintains that for the last two winters of doing them she has not had a bad cold or flu episode. I'll add a few things I've gathered along the way and don't do well enough, all very random and incomplete and all that...so without further ado(hmm, I'm good at ado I think...)here's my list!
1. avoid large crowds.........
HA! okay, threw that in because it's the one that makes you sigh and quit reading, as the same season that brings the cold and flu brings all kinds of gathering and shopping and going out, so outside of possibly me, we probably won't all become hermits for the winter..
2. Wash your hands and gargle when you return from being out.
I'd never heard of gargling to rinse germs from your throat on a routine basis(unless you already had a sore throat and used salt water) until I lived in Japan the first time. This is a routine drilled into kids from kindergarten, they do it several times during the day, Sage is no exception.Although I thought it odd and anal retentive admittedly at first, I'm all about it at the moment! I have read about it since then, for allergy sufferers after being out. Nai-Nai says after doing this for some time she can almost feel the moment she gets something foreign in her throat, she feels something sticking there or something and if she gargles right away she is fine, but if she is, for instance, at the hairdresser's under the dryer, (real story here:)and can't rinse right away, than she inevitably gets a cold.
3. Rinse your nose out twice a day and after being in large crowds...I was familiar with this one in the form of nose spray, but Nai-Nai says that what she heard and does is as simple as when you wash your face in the am/pm, suck a little water into your nose. Not only does it rinse the germs out, it moistens your mucous membranes, which is one of your bodies first defenses against attack by viruses and bacteria. Not only do viruses thrive in the drier weather, your nose and mouth tend to be drier which keeps them from being as effective at getting rid of them. According to a man she saw on TV or somewhere(great sources here huh!), after 40 years of chronic colds etc he started doing this and his colds were reduced to a few a year. It's good to do after you come home too, when you gargle and wash your hands.Despite the intial ewww response to this, which she said you do have at first, you get used to it. I tried it today and although it reminds you of those awful episodes when you sucked water while swimming, afterwards your nose feels fresh! And what better than a fresh nose I ask....
(remember the accountability thing, I'm waiting for "so, have you sucked any water up your nose today???")
4. And speaking of moist mucous membranes and dry weather...my mom's favorite...DRINK LOTS OF WATER. and no, caffeinated drinks do NOT count! My kids are getting called to the kitchen for enforced watering these days...ha! they're getting good at it too. Although Sage and I don't get sick as often, we get thickened mucous and postnasal drip/cough, yeah, aren't you glad you know that about us! from an MSN article today I read that although postnasal drip is a normal part of our body function, the mucous is normally so thin we don't notice it. However in dry conditions the mucous gets thicker and drier and then you get that cough and all that other nasty stuff, can I just say yuck!
5.Another interesting one from Nai-Nai, when you come home from being out and about, take off your coat outside and shake it off, then hang it ideally outside of your living area, in an entrance, or somewhere you won't have it around you, as it can harbor many germs.
6.Get plenty of sleep, ha, as I'm typing this one late at night.
7.Eat plenty of fresh fruits and veggies and hang back on the sugar and prepared foods---can I just say Thanksgiving and Christmas anyone---here's another one we're all going to compromise on- am I right??
8.Don't touch your mouth and face while out and about, nose too, kids! ha, I have yet to see my kids be able to not do this, but it makes you feel better to say it, right? We like to use those little bottles of alcohol handwash stuff when we are out, when we are on top of it enough to remember it. For those who care, it isn't like antibacterial soap, it's okay to use frequently.
9. This stuff won't work unless you make them true habits and do them everytime, which is honestly, for some of us, not a big probability. So I'm praying that God will help me in the task to be responsible and to remember and go the distance with being consistent in helping the kids develop the same habits. I am truly not good at consistency, so looking at forming new habits like these often just send me into despondancy as I look at my previous track record, so today, like Paul, I choose to look forward and not back, one babystep at a time(for those Flylady fans of you out there.
10. Oh, I almost forgot, last but not least, for my mother and those who know her best-DON'T SHARE DRINKS! hee, hee. And she's right, of course....
posted by Unknown at
10:42 PM
4 Comments:
a long list i must say, but you made me me laugh!
Thanks for the tips:)
By
michelle, at 4:56 AM
Don't forget to toss your toothbrush every month. Giant germ factory!
Aunt Diane
By
Anonymous, at 1:04 PM
Here's another one Heather (since you don't have enough of your own :p) I've read to wipe your phones,light switches, and door handles with alcohol frequently during cold/flu season. Things your hands and mouth are constantly touching.
By
Anonymous, at 2:05 PM
Hey, guys, thanks, more good ones! Guess what- the kids found sniffing the water up their nose a challenge since when I told them we were going to start gargling etc, and if they did this special strange one they got a special prize. Of course, they had to try it and laughed and laughed..anything for a prize and anything to do it if your brother can!
By
Unknown, at 4:39 PM
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