Friday, July 10, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Germies!!!!!
We just survived a week of the icky sicky germies. Well, the week isn't over yet, but the germs are gone! It was an ugly doozy of a germ-fest here on Monday. Seems that all the kiddos contracted the same virus late last week, let the virus grow and fester over the weekend, and then came to play on Monday morning only to be sent home an hour or so later with fevers!
Since opening with an official registration two years ago, this past Monday was my worst day ever, by FAR! I had to call three parents and have them come pick up their sick kiddos, and one kiddo didn't even make it, as his fever hit over the weekend. On top of all that? Monday was our buddy Aaron's very first day here as a full time attendee!
Luckily, Aaron and Julia managed to stay healthy - this little virus bug musta been one that only likes the little tots. And thankfully, it was a quick virus - today is Thursday and everybody is back and playing like nothing was wrong!
I do a lot around here to try and keep the germs at bay. We have a "soapy bucket" that we keep right on the other side of the baby gate. This soapy bucket is handy for tossing in toys that get mouthed or dirty. Most of the kiddos know that if I see them (Or if Julia sees them, for that matter) put a toy in their mouth or something, that the toy will go right into the soapy bucket as soon as they are done with it. At the end of each day, I wash the soapy bucket toys and spray them with Lysol cleaner, and let them dry overnight so that I can return them to their homes the next morning.
We are also good about sanitizing groups of toys regularly... We bring out different things to play with during our Shaving Cream fun times - because the shaving cream helps the toys get clean, and then of course, it's always fun to wash the cream off the toys at the end of play time! Or, we'll take toys outside and really wash them, with warm soapy water and wash rags. We've taken our tables and chairs outside a few times for sudsy rinses as well.
Likewise, I'm pretty good about throwing the dress up clothes and stuffed animals in the wash at the end of the week. It's easy to just add them to our weekend laundry of blankets/pillow cases, etc.
We also are pretty quick to cover our mouths with sneezing and coughing. The kids have been learning "The Batman!!!" which is something that I say quickly if I see they are going to sneeze - and they've learned that "the batman" is just a fun way to cover your mouth - you put your face into the nook of your arm, sneezing/coughing into the shoulder.
Ahh, I guess what I'm trying to say here is that we really do keep the germs down! But, I guess no matter what we do, no matter how much we clean, sanitize, wipe, scrub, suds the toys, the furniture, the things in the house... no matter how careful we are to share everything except the germs, getting sick is bound to happen. When you have five toddlers and a preschooler in the same room - germ sharing is bound to happen!
Hopefully our next virus won't wipe out the entire enrollment... Hopefully it will come and go without us adults noticing anything much out of the ordinary at all!
Because healthy kids? Kids that are happy and joyful, playful, excited, eager and ready to learne? Those are the kinds of kids that we want in the house all the time!
Oh, and by the way - Aaron? He fits in perfectly here! He's already brought so much joy into our family. He has the best sense of humor, cracking me up every minute of every day! I can't wait to share more pictures and videos of both him and Matthew (a new'ish part timer!) ...they're both already a part of our little family here!
Since opening with an official registration two years ago, this past Monday was my worst day ever, by FAR! I had to call three parents and have them come pick up their sick kiddos, and one kiddo didn't even make it, as his fever hit over the weekend. On top of all that? Monday was our buddy Aaron's very first day here as a full time attendee!
Luckily, Aaron and Julia managed to stay healthy - this little virus bug musta been one that only likes the little tots. And thankfully, it was a quick virus - today is Thursday and everybody is back and playing like nothing was wrong!
I do a lot around here to try and keep the germs at bay. We have a "soapy bucket" that we keep right on the other side of the baby gate. This soapy bucket is handy for tossing in toys that get mouthed or dirty. Most of the kiddos know that if I see them (Or if Julia sees them, for that matter) put a toy in their mouth or something, that the toy will go right into the soapy bucket as soon as they are done with it. At the end of each day, I wash the soapy bucket toys and spray them with Lysol cleaner, and let them dry overnight so that I can return them to their homes the next morning.
We are also good about sanitizing groups of toys regularly... We bring out different things to play with during our Shaving Cream fun times - because the shaving cream helps the toys get clean, and then of course, it's always fun to wash the cream off the toys at the end of play time! Or, we'll take toys outside and really wash them, with warm soapy water and wash rags. We've taken our tables and chairs outside a few times for sudsy rinses as well.
Likewise, I'm pretty good about throwing the dress up clothes and stuffed animals in the wash at the end of the week. It's easy to just add them to our weekend laundry of blankets/pillow cases, etc.
We also are pretty quick to cover our mouths with sneezing and coughing. The kids have been learning "The Batman!!!" which is something that I say quickly if I see they are going to sneeze - and they've learned that "the batman" is just a fun way to cover your mouth - you put your face into the nook of your arm, sneezing/coughing into the shoulder.
Ahh, I guess what I'm trying to say here is that we really do keep the germs down! But, I guess no matter what we do, no matter how much we clean, sanitize, wipe, scrub, suds the toys, the furniture, the things in the house... no matter how careful we are to share everything except the germs, getting sick is bound to happen. When you have five toddlers and a preschooler in the same room - germ sharing is bound to happen!
Hopefully our next virus won't wipe out the entire enrollment... Hopefully it will come and go without us adults noticing anything much out of the ordinary at all!
Because healthy kids? Kids that are happy and joyful, playful, excited, eager and ready to learne? Those are the kinds of kids that we want in the house all the time!
Oh, and by the way - Aaron? He fits in perfectly here! He's already brought so much joy into our family. He has the best sense of humor, cracking me up every minute of every day! I can't wait to share more pictures and videos of both him and Matthew (a new'ish part timer!) ...they're both already a part of our little family here!
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