Staying Healthy

In my many years of teaching and working with children, I have inevitably gotten sick (cold, flu, stomach viruses...) every year with the exception of this year-- so what's different? It's the Kindermusik families at Musikandmotion! You have all been conscientious about keeping yourselves and your sick children at home, and thereby keeping me, and all the Kindermusik children and adults in class healthy.

In the past week, two out of every 8 Kindermusik families missed class because of a cold or flu...

According to US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, "keeping hands clean is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. It is best to wash your hands with soap and clean running water for 20 seconds. However, if soap and clean water are not available, use an alcohol-based product to clean your hands. Alcohol-based hand rubs significantly reduce the number of germs on skin and are fast acting."

Help yourself and your children to the handsanitizer on the welcome table before and after class-- you can always wash hands before and after class, too. I also make a point to clean all the instruments after each use, and separate those that have been mouthed. I especially like Clorox Anywhere HardSurface spray as it leaves no chemical residue.

Another great product is SquidSoap. This product leaves a small stamp on your hand (sort of like the Kindermusik stamp after class) and requires you to wash for 15-20 seconds to remove it-- a great way to motivate (and train) your children to wash hands thoroughly and for you to check that they did! Hat tip to The Parenting Weblog.

Stay healthy, everyone, and thank you for helping me stay healthy this flu season!