Saturday, March 19, 2011

Being Sick Stinks!

Being sick really stinks. And I mean that quite literally. It does not smell good. The stench of sickness has laid itself over my house like an wet, grimy blanket. After almost a week of stomach bug infestation, I have thrown open the windows in attempt to rid our place of the offending odors. This round of ailment saw just about every part of the house get christened with one form of refund or another. From the couch to the car seat, it seems that no place was safe.

And despite my constant fumigation attempts via Febreze, Lysol and cornstarch powder, the lingering smell just won't go away. I can smell sickness in my cloths, my hair, and on my hands - no matter how many time I wash, no matter how hard I scrub.

Yesterday was a warm and beautiful day, and I tried to keep the windows open to clear the air, but I, myself, was suffering a mild case of the hurl and runs, so I had to close the windows when I wanted to rest. Apparently, my neighbors think that nice weather means you should stand on your deck and smoke, or ride your Harley around the block twenty times. Neither scenario blends well with nausea and fatigue. 

Even though the temperature dropped by about 20 degrees today, those darn windows are open and the cool, fresh air is coming in!

But ever the eternal optimist, I figured that I could wrangle a little good out of a nasty situation, by sharing what I have learned over the past week.

1) As soon as anyone in the house gets sick, put a large mattress cover and sheet over the couch. It took me more than one round of trying to scrub and Febreze the hell out of my couch before I wised up and did this. Next time, it will be like second nature.

2) Don't put a sick kid in the car. Even if you have to run out of the house for twenty minutes. Car seats are a mother to clean. And if you happen to be in the market for a new car seat, do yourself a favor and buy one that has an easily removable, launder-able cover. Just in case you ignore the first part of this advice absolutely must leave the house with sick baby in tow.

3) Have an extra set of crib sheets and mattress covers at the ready for those middle of the night bed changes. Have a little bucket and washcloth ready too, for the midnight sponge bath. If you open the door, and smell a tell tale smell, grab what you need before you pick up the baby so you can complete the operation without missing a beat.

The likelihood of your child ever
actually throwing up in the toilet
is very small.
4) If you are by yourself, and have a smaller baby or toddler that you need to corral while you change the bed, consider setting up the pack and play in the child's room in advance. You will thank me for this if your child is suffering from cluster barf. There is nothing quite as defeating as getting your child cleaned and dressed, getting her bed changed, then turning to find she has thrown up again all over the wall-to-wall carpeting in her room.

5) Check your children's fever reliever for its expiration date prior to the time that you actually need it. Because if you don't, it will certainly be expired at 1:00 a.m. when you really need it.

6) Don't feel guilty about a little extra TV time for your sick child. If they are lethargic and just want to lay around, let them. I realized after coming down with the same bug as The Baby, that all I wanted to do was lay around, because it was a strength-sapping kind of illness, and I did not even feel like sitting up. I most definitely did not want to play with blocks or do Itsy Bitsy Spider either.

7) In addition to having the time honored sickness staples like Saltines and ginger ale, make sure you have some easy foods on hand like peanut butter, bread, frozen waffles and bananas. These are easy things that you can slap together for a make-shift meal, should you find yourself with at least one child at any given time who can actually keep food down.

8) Do. Not. Get. Low. On. Toilet. Paper.  EVER! Enough said.

So with all that, I am happy to report that we are seemingly on the road to better health, and fresher air.
I hope that you all avoid as much sickness as possible, but if you happen to get afflicted, perhaps these tidbits of nonsense wisdom will help!

Does any one else have any sick time strategies that make things a little easier?

16 comments:

  1. Oh my. Sounds like a rough few days. Hope everyone is doing better.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog. I'm following you now, too.

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  2. Oh, I am sorry. My daughter had stomach flu this week, but the rest of us got lucky.

    Your advice made me laugh. I have really learned the hard way for most it. I am also NOW a firm believer in couch covers and easily removable car seat covers.

    I've also leaned to ALWAYS carry a spit-up bowl in my van. Even on a healthy day, my kids don't do so well in the car. Hope you are all better and smell-free soon! Janae

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  3. If it makes you feel any better, your house didn't smell like stinky sickness when I was there!

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  4. I'm sympathetic, but laughing, because it's all so true!! I hope the sickies are gone soon, and you can get the stink out! You give wonderful advice. I wish I had somebody give it to me 10 years ago, I had to learn the hard way!

    I'm stopping by and following from the hops. I'd love a follow back, http://homeschoolblogger.com/brindamorr/

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  5. I hope you all are feeling better now.

    I have many other suggestions I could offer since I have a child who vomits even when well, but I will only offer a couple.

    First, should someone break your rule number 2, be sure to bring something to quickly catch the vomit when you jump out of the car, a fresh container of clean wipes, have the child in a rain coat or easily washable, vinyl-esque coat before loading into the car seat and make sure it is zipped up all of the way. Also, placing a couple of towels in the car seat first can help keep the vomit out of the crevices, which will get vomit even if you have removable padding that can be washed.

    My other best advice is if your child has a lovey that they must sleep with, get a spare. When they are sick, the lovey is wanted more than normal, but is most likely to be soiled. The spare lovey comes in mighty handy in those situations. Just don't let your husband leave the lovey at the child's preschool because he didn't anticipate sickness approaching.

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  6. Once, on our annual trip to Texas... we all got some kind of stomach flu. We were actually on our drive home when it hit, and were doing our best to drive straight through without stopping (hubby had to work the next day) and the drive can take 22 hours from TX to CA -- so we were on our way home, and not 2 hours into the drive the first kid threw up. We drive a big 15 passenger van, so I - being up front - was not aware of this until someone from the waaaay back bench shouted, "MOM! Alex just threw up!!" So we head for the nearest off ramp and stop to clean the 8 year old up. What a mess. And the smell! Ugh. So I give him a trashcan bag (the big 10 gallon size that is supposed to fit into your kitchen garbage can - we happened to have them in the car for some reason, thank goodness) and we were on our way again. Whenever he had to get sick, he just used the bag. Gross, I know...but we couldn't stop every.single.time he threw up or else we'd be on the road for a week! On we went...and every 2 or 3 hours or so another kid would start throwing up, too. It was this weird virus that must have had a very short incubation period. So by the time we got home, every kid in the car had a trash bag slung over their necks (we rigged them up so that all they needed to do was hold the bag open - we made a hole at the top so that the kids' head fit through, so it made a type of "bib" hung around their neck) Did I mention that we had 8 kids at the time? Yep, 8 kids ranging from 16 down to 2 years old...vomiting all the way home from TX to CA. It was the RIDE FROM HELL, that's for sure. How my husband and I didn't start up ourselves, I have no idea. We sure felt sick, but luckily we waited until we got home. Then it hit us. A few days after that, I was still feeling sick...which was strange because with everyone else it lasted no longer than 7 or 8 hours. But with me, I felt nauseated all the time. Then I realized my period was late! About a week! I hadn't noticed...and sure enough, a pregnancy test told us that #9 was on the way. That would be little Aria, who is now two years old.

    It's a funny travel/trip/car story, looking back at it. But at the time, I thought I was in hell. Really.

    I saw your blog on the weekend blog hop - now a follower! Looking forward to reading more:)

    Katrina
    www.theyallcallmemom.com

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  7. Im with you on being sick stinks hope you feel better soon I am your newest follower

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  8. I agree! You just know when someone has been sick in your house, even without vomit! There's just a stale smell. Hope everyone is better!

    Following from Lets Get Social! Hopefully you can visit and follow us too!

    Krissy @ Mommy Misc...

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  9. You're right about the stale smell, try placing vinegar is small bowls around the house. That should help to eliminate the odor.

    Thanks following my blog, Nap Time Is My Time, I'm following you back.

    Best,
    Emily from Nap Time Is My Time

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  10. Oh why didn't I heed suggestion 1...? Another day, another couch a la puke. ~K

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  11. This is wonderful advice!! Having sick kids is the worst! I hate it when mine get sick especially when it is spread out across the whole month. I would rather have everyone sick at the same time and get it over with!

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  12. I am with you as I am sick right now huhuhu.

    I just followed your blog, please followed me back at Opinion Channel

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  13. New follower! If you get a chance please visit my blog www.mommywantstoread.blogspot.com

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  14. I'm glad you are getting better. I like your helpful hints! Those are all great advice!

    I am a new follower from the Tuesday blog hop and would love a follow back!!!

    Hope
    http://www.peanutbutterandhopey.com

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  15. Great tips! We had back to back rounds in December. It's the worst! I also do the couch cover trick and always set up the pack and play...what else can you do??!! Hope you guys are getting better!

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