Achoo!: A Cold and Flu Survival Kit

It’s the librarian in me, I swear.  Not a thing can live in this house without being grouped and labeled.  In my basement you’ll find my Emergency Kit, next to the patio door our Outdoor Adventure Kit, my backpack is The Gym Kit (lest I misplace my beloved earbuds or lock), and I’m not going to even start on my arts and crafts kits, pretend play kits for the kids, or what’s in neatly stacked and labeled bins in my linen closet.

Recently, though, I added an additional important kit to my stash: a Cold and Flu Survival Kit.  This habit, started a few years back, has saved me in more ways than one.  Having the essentials on hand means no more midnight runs to the pharmacy or stressing because we can’t find the thermometer or proper meds when needed.  It’s all in one place, ready to go for when the little guys start sniffling and sneezing.  Or when the adults start feeling sick, because puhleeze, there is no such thing as a sick day when you are a stay-at-home mom!

Each year I find more to add to the Cold and Flu Kit, and this year I found some inspiration from the Be Well, Save Well pamphlet found at Safeway pharmacies.  By the way, there is a pretty fabulous coupon for Clorox Wipes in there for those that love a good deal.  Stack that baby with a sale and you’ve got yourself some free Clorox wipes.

But I digress.  Thanks to the ideas in the pamphlet, I added in a canister of Clorox Wipes and a box of tissues.  Both are nice to have on hand when someone is sick; I mean really, how does one tiny runny nose use up so many tissues?  Having a box stashed away ensures there’s one at the ready.

Here’s what’s in my Cold and Flu Survival Kit this year:

The essentials, plus a few extras: lip balm, coloring books and stickers for sad kiddos, and a box of tea for a pick-me-up.

By the way, J&J Vapor Bath is great when they have the sniffles.  I usually use a natural bath product for bathtime, but we love our Vapor Bath when they are sick.  Not pictured in the kit is Vicks VapoRub.  It’s upstairs on Noodle’s dresser for her current round of sniffles… that stuff really helps them sleep when they have stuffy noses.  As “old-fashioned” as it is, I didn’t think to use it until a friend recommended it this fall.  LIFESAVER!

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the best way to beat cold and flu season is to prevent it.  Getting vitamin C through 100% Florida orange juice is a delicious way to do so.  I’ve started giving my kids a glass of it a day; they love the taste and I love that it helps build immunity.

Orange juice is the miracle drink in my house.  Noodle loves water, but water has no nutrients… or, more importantly for her, calories.  Enter orange juice. An all-natural, nutrient packed drink that she gulps down with a smile.  And I mean gulps.  And smiles.  Today alone she begged for three glasses of the stuff!

It has enough calories that it’s a great snack for her… but not too many calories that I don’t want to drink it as well.  As I type this, Noodle’s literally going on and on about orange juice and how much she loves it… and how we need to give some to Bee when he wakes up from his nap.  Not so fast honey, let the little guy sleep please oh please!

We’ve even been experimenting with creating Vitamin C smoothies, to be revealed in an upcoming post.  But I’ll give you a sneak peek…

I can keep my kids bundled up as much as possible and shower them in hand sanitizer but preventing illness comes from within.  I’ve been working hard to overhaul our nutritional lifestyle and making sure they get the proper amount of vitamin C has been a concern from day one.  Especially with Noodle’s growth issues, she needs vitamin C to properly metabolize other nutrients as well.  OJ aisle, here we come!

Wanna tag along on my shopping trip for supplies with Bee?  Check out my Google + album of our shopping adventure.  And when you have an almost-two-year-old boy, shopping can be an adventure!  If you’d like to see other fantastic cold and flu survival kits, be sure to follow the #FloridaOJ hashtag on Twitter and see what others are putting together.  In addition, Safeway stores have active and responsive Twitter and Facebook pages.  For great recipes and other tips, “like” the Florida OJ Council’s Facebook page as well.

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study by Collective Bias. Many thanks to #CBias and The Florida OJ Council (#FloridaOJ) for giving me great content to write about!  As always, opinions expressed are 100% my own and I was not compensated to publish positive comments.
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