Like many of you recently, I was home at the beginning of this week with my sick children. This time of year is always a juicy one for viruses and respiratory illnesses but because of covid lock downs and masking policies these past two winters, generally our kids have been way under exposed to these super common germs recently. Which means that many of our kiddos are getting exposed to these germs right now for the first time in their lives. And because our immune systems use prior exposures to elicit future protection, their immune systems are figuring out for the first time how to fight these illnesses, which means they are having more symptoms and needing more time for their bodies to heal and recover. Further, if you have a pandemic baby like I do, they literally have NEVER had a fall or winter without masks indoors, so this might be their very first exposures to many many germs.
This can feel like a brutal onslaught to our children and also to our own schedules/working lives/sanity. It's important to remember it is normal and common for young kids to get sick often; that in the best of years, an average young child will get a virus about once a month. And this is not the best of years.
So what is a parent to do???
Focus on what we can control. Prioritize sleep, nutritious foods, plenty of fluids, and regular movement of our bodies. Get adjusted by your chiropractor! See your acupuncturist and massage therapist as manual therapy helps support lymphatic drainage and immune function. If you have a baby under 6 months old, getting a upper respiratory infection or virus for them is much more complicated, so you might consider limiting your time in crowded indoor spaces and wear masks indoors when outside your household.
Expect that your kid will get sick. Even with all the fish oil supplements and hand washing in the world, your kid will get sick. At least a few times before Spring. Make a plan with your partner ahead of time how you will divide the childcare when they can't go to school or daycare. My husband and I have different 'on call' days throughout the week which helps avoid tense decision making at 6:30am on a sick day.
Practice gratitude. This is tough when your kid is miserable, your day is upended, and you have no idea when they will be allowed back into childcare settings. After witnessing a client of mind recently spend 5 days in the hospital with her newborn for RSV (he's back home and fine now thanks goodness), I can tell you that I was so grateful knowing that despite my kid being sick, I knew she was going to get better soon and get over this. I am grateful that I have flexibility in my job to stay home and care for them. I am grateful we have a safe warm home and food to nurture them back to health. And yes, I am SO grateful for streaming services and wifi to help entertain my kids when they barely have the energy to get off the couch.
Know you are not alone. So many parents are going through this right now. You are doing a great job with a really hard situation. Deep breathes, this too shall pass.
Stay healthy everyone!