With all of this talk about Swine Flu, I find that it actually does make me a little nervous. I shrugged at the thought of Bird Flu, and laughed in the face of Mad Cow Disease. I developed this I don’t care attitude from my mother who is afraid of absolutely everything. When Mad Cow Disease was first announced on the news, my mother quit eating beef for the better part of a decade. When Bird Flu hit the scene, her incessant worrying took a firmer hold and she considered becoming vegetarian. Perhaps those might have been considered reasonable courses of action at the time, but when she called me exclaiming that there were radioactive toxic miniature deer loose on the streets of her small town (She saw it on the news!) all credibility to her worrying flew out the window along with any composure she had left.

This Swine Flu actually has me a bit worried. Not in the sense of being like my mother who has more than likely already boarded up her house and is peering out at her cats from the safety of underneath her bed, but just a little worried and feeling the need to do something rather than to just ignore or laugh at this one.

So I guess all we can do at this point is prepare. The White House says there is no reason to panic yet, but it’s better to play it safe…when it comes time to panic it’s already too late.

So here’s a few ways to help keep you and your family feel a little safer. I wish that there were better ways to just avoid it all together, but this is at least a start.

Use lots of bleach. Bleach is great for killing germs around the house. It may not be a bad idea to periodically wash your dishes in a weak bleach solution. Wipe down the stove and kitchen with bleach as well. Why take any chances. Bleach the bathroom as well.

I recently purchased a bottle of Clorox Anywhere Hard Surface Spray. I’ll be using this a lot now. I like this because it’s safe to use around kids and pets (of which I have both). Clorox Anywhere Hard Surface Spray claims to kill 99.9% of germs and that’s a percentage I can be happy with. The Clorox website at http://www.clorox.com/?WT.srch=1 offers coupons and sanitizing advice.

Lysol Disinfecting Wipes are a great way to clean up or wipe areas without spreading germs around with sponges or dish towels. I keep a bottle in the kitchen and in the bathroom for a quick wipe down when needed.

Stock up on hand sanitizers and antibacterial soap for hand washing. Get the family in the habit of washing their hands more often.

Avoid close contact with people outside the house. The signs and symptoms that have been reported to be common of Swine Flu are fever and coughing. You may not be able to tell if somebody walking by you at the grocery store has a fever, but steer clear of people coughing. Now is a good time to talk to your kids about germs and the importance of avoiding them.

The CDC has a webpage that talks about preventing the flu and even has a tab to click on talking about Swine Flu. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/preventing.htm It might be a good time to brush up on the basics of flu prevention.
These tips won’t guarantee anything, but it may help s
ome. I hope that you and your family stay healthy and safe during these scary times and whish you the best of luck.