Every fall when I send the children off to their various activities at school and church, I get to feeling as if I have just affixed a huge “kick me” sign on their backs that only germs can see. “Hi! Need someone to infect? Ohh, ohh! Pick me! My mom loves cleaning up puke, and favorite place on Earth is the emergency room at three o’clock in the morning!” Not so much, people. Not so much.

I have noticed an improvement as Jonas has gotten older and his immune system has strengthened, but only after my immune system was subjected to a violent re-hashing of every childhood illness I never thought I’d experience again. Now that I have three little petri dishes living with me, there are days where I feel like I should shower in straight bleach.

Thankfully, my neurotic flair for the dramatic aside, there are some easy ways to keep your family healthier. The Clorox Healthy Home Growth Chart and Healthy Habits for the Home can be downloaded free and contain many great ideas on how to keep germs at bay and improve your family’s health everyday.

I think most parents are pretty conscious about making clean choices. When you consider how expensive healthcare is and how totally undervalued the family is in today’s world and how most employers are unwilling to allow working parents sick days to care for their children (a whole ‘nother post altogether), most moms and dads are pretty desperate to keep their children healthy.

A Tip from the book: Did you know a person who washes her hands on average 7 times a day catches 4 times less colds than someone who doesn’t?

A Tip of my own: If you are ill, or your child is ill, STAY HOME unless you are seeking medical treatment. It skeeves me to no end to see obviously ill children being dropped off at school (or worse, the church nursery!) It also disgusts me to go into places of business and see the people employed there look like they really ought to be home in bed. A tiny, residual sniffle or cough is one thing, but I frequently see people who are really disgustingly ill out and about working and sending their kids to school to infect mine. I am well aware that losing hours at work is a huge problem, but if you decided to have children, then you decided to take care of them, and sending sick kids to school and daycare is not ok. It is irresponsible parenting, and you need to have a system in place to care of for a moderately ill child if you are unable. This will keep everyone healthier.

**I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Clorox and the What to Expect Guide and received a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate. Mom Central asked me to review the product in connection with this tour. Of course, all thoughts are my own, and the Clorox people may or may not be as cranky about the sick kids at school issue as I am, ha.**