A couple of weeks ago I took Macks into the city for a little date. With him being sick a lot of last month, I figured we could get out and let him enjoy some one-on-one time with me exploring our old stomping grounds. My sister happened to be out of town the weekend that we decided to head into the city, so we had a little sleep over at her apartment, just the two of us. I took him to dinner, grabbed some ice cream on our walk home, and we both cuddled up on the couch to watch some of his favorite shows (without any outside influence from his big sisters.) The next morning we headed off to Brooklyn for a morning of play.
While living in Manhattan, (and even now) we don’t explore Brooklyn quite as often as we should. Macks was in heaven since the moment we started to drive across the bridge. We spent the morning at Recess, an indoor playground in DUMBO. While Macks was busy climbing everything possible inside, I was catching up with friends and learning how to tackle germs (pretty appropriate for an indoor play space, don’t you think?)
With it being cold and flu season and Macks having pneumonia and bronchitis last month, I’m being very cautious with the kids and what they do and what they touch. I’ll do anything to avoid going through what we did with Macks ever again. Thankfully the team at Vicks VapoRub gave us some tips on how to avoid the spread of germs. While we all know th at we want our kiddos to wash their hands, I learned that they need to do it for 27 seconds for it to be effective. Not so easy when you have a little one whose attention span lasts 2.5 seconds, right? Their solution? Sing songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to help them get through it. Nothing like a little duet while you’re washing away the germs.
And while we do everything possible to avoid getting sick, it inevitably happens, especially during this time of year. And thankfully that’s when Vicks VapoRub comes in to help.
I took Macks to the doctor yesterday because he woke up with a cough and I thought he might have been wheezing again. Since our bout with pneumonia and bronchitis last month, I’m probably overly paranoid when he has the slightest runny nose or cough. With me going out of town this week for work, I wanted to play it safe and decided to take him in. The doctor checked his oxygen levels and lungs and everything was picture perfect. Thank goodness, I thought to myself. We headed home with orders just to treat the symptoms and come back if he gets any worse or starts running a fever.
We went home and I grabbed some of the Vicks VapoRub that was in our medicine cabinet and rubbed it on his chest. We always have a container of the VapoRub and the baby VapoRub (BabyRub) on hand, especially for this time of year when it seems everyone has a cough. The camphor, eucalyptus oil and menthol help relieve the cough almost right away, so I know that they can rest easy without the worry of a cough keeping them awake at night (when the cough always seems to be at its worst.)
While I know there isn’t much I can do to make the cold go away, I do know that there are things that I can do to help bring some relief to his symptoms. I grabbed the humidifier and put it in his room to ease his breathing and runny nose. He went to bed last night with a smile on his face and without any coughing fits. It’s amazing how great the sound of silence is when your little one is suffering from a constant cough. Let’s be honest, the sound of silence late at night is glorious no matter what, right? But I’ll thank VapoRub for this silent night.
