Preparing for Family Illness

The cold and flu season hit late in my neck of the woods. We just got through recovering from a very fatiguing virus that bogged me down for 3 weeks. Now my daughter, just a week later, is sick again. Although it appears to just be a cold, I'm preparing for the worst. Doing so greatly reduces my stress and makes "catch up" work after illness much easier. Here's the action plan: 

 * Do all the laundry. Get those hampers empty! 

* Get all the dishes done, too. 

* Consider using paper plates, should you become ill. This prevents the build up of dishes when you're too sick to do them. (Remember, paper plates can go into the compost bin.) 

* Mop and vacuum. You may not feel up to those jobs later. 

* Do any other household chores that will drive you nuts if they don't get done right away. 



* Make sure you have any basic medicines you might need, like Tylenol, a working thermometer, etc. 

 * Make sure you have enough hand sanitizer, tissues, orange juice, or whatever else your family needs to feel more comfortable while ill. 

 * If there are jobs you normally do, but someone else may have to take them over, type up instructions. For example, my daughter takes certain herbs to help her sleep. My husband would have no idea how to administer these without an instruction sheet to read. 

 * Read up on ways to stay healthy, even when your kids are not. * Slow down and take it easy. Once you've done the above, don't fight the inevitable. If you need to, lay around as much as you can. The sooner you are better, the sooner the whole family will be happier!

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