Keep Your Cootie Bugs!

Today my youngest daughter turned 9 years old and she's missing school for the first time this school year, HOME SICK ~ with a fever she has been fighting since she arrived home yesterday from school. It may or may not be something more but for now, I'm not chancing MY child being the classroom/school culprit for the spread of another cootie bug! I KNOW this is not how she or I expected to spend her Birthday but I refuse to be one of those irresponsible people that allows the unnecessary spread of germs.

It is NEVER too early to teach our children about caring for their bodies from the inside out and where our responsibilities lie when it comes to taking time away from every day life for proper rest so we don't infect others. Such a simple thought that continues to be ignored.

I don't get sick often, less than once per year, but when I do I always feel it's important to listen to my body and ignore life's daily demands screaming in my head, "get up and go to work anyway", right? This is how the domino affect is created in schools, offices and public places. Daily obligations are important but not as important as our health and safety.

My brain hurts when I see a child in public with a green, runny nose and not even close to being dressed properly! H E L L O ! If I can see the nasal discharge from 4 feet away, then I'm betting Mum & Dad can see it too but WILL NOT allow a sick child to put a crimp in their daily "to do" list. HENCE, the spread of yet another cootie bug! STAY HOME and KEEP YOUR COOTIE BUGS!

Every adult should know right from wrong when it comes to personal hygiene but sadly there are those half ass parents out there that DON'T care! I recently witnessed a woman shopping at Hallmark with her two children. Each child was playing with a toy that they took from a display. I assumed they were going to purchase them since their mother allowed the boys to salivate all over these toys for the past 15 or so minutes, while she shopped. I actually felt the contents of my stomach curdle when the mother instructed her boys to return the toys back to where they got them! What the??? Oh YES she did!!! Not only did she allow her boys to suckle all over these toys that she never intended to buy BUT she also taught them that their behavior was acceptable. This is NOT acceptable! ANYWHERE! ANYTIME! NO WAY!

Even more shocking, I also recognized this woman a few weeks later at a PTA meeting for the Health and Wellness committee!!! She was a parent at the same school my daughter attends! I'm still scratching my head on this one, . . . at a very safe distance mind you.

As a licensed Esthetician, one of my many professional responsibilities is to maintain personal hygiene and encourage my clients to do the same. This is a personal CHOICE as well! Not just with skin care but with the entire body. Before I became an Esthetician, I was well aware of the significant role personal hygiene plays and the responsibility of properly training my children to do so as well. If we as parents don't take personal hygiene seriously, then neither will our offspring! It's common sense, really. NO! REALLY!!!

In this year of 2010, with newly discovered viruses popping up and killing people of all walks of life, there are still many individuals that ignore their obligation to their fellow man and head out to spread their cootie bugs anyway! I'm a true believer in daily awareness for self improvement rather than waiting for a new year to pretend you're going to make positive changes! So, if there are a few of you still in need of a, "New Years Resolution", please allow me to suggest one that should be adopted for your lifetime and passed onto your children like a crown. Power to the shower and praise to those that keep their cootie bugs to the walls in their own home!