This Too Shall Pass (or death to germs)

‘Tis the season. The tail end of cold and flu that is. As well as the cornerstone of spring – a time that I’ve spent the past four years battling the demons of “what if.”

And then something amazing happened.

Last weekend the muppets had a play date with their girlfriend. (They don’t get to play much at school because they’re…well, they’re the instigators of chaos. As preschoolers are.) The day before, Minnie’s mom called me with a warning.

Minnie’s Mom: Just a warning, Minnie’s sister has been sick all week. She’s on the tail end now, but Minnie’s got a stuffy nose.

Me: Search has a bit of a runny nose, too. We’re good if you guys are. (I figure they share enough of the same germs at school.)

I didn’t give a second thought to the possible runny noses. “Eh, no big deal,” I thought. “Preschoolers are generally just germ-mongers.”

The week went by. Search shared what I assume to be the aforementioned germs with his brother. Destroy is now royally stuffed up. As I attempted to defeat his ducks and dodges to clean his nose with a wipe, it hit me.

I didn’t hear any wheezing.

I didn’t hear a sniffle and rush the kid to the ER because I feared pneumonia. And I had voluntarily taken my boys outside to a place of known illness. Without fear.

Before I even got to meet my sons, before I could even stand upright after six weeks of bed rest, the first thing I learned was how to enter the NICU: Scrub your hands for the length of the song Happy Birthday (ironic, I know). And then douse them in hand-sanitizer before you enter the inner units.

Immature lungs and undeveloped immune systems were the enemy. Their name was Chronic Lung Disease.

When we brought the boys home, only one person was allowed in the house with us to visit – only to be refused across the threshold if they even had the look of a sneeze in their eye. I wielded my hand sanitizer like a weapon. I WILL SPRAY YOU DOWN.

As we approach the fourth year of this adventure, we had no restrictions to keep the boys isolated. They’re just typical miscreants in their preschool class. Last year, they graduated from the high-risk clinic with “no lasting effects of prematurity.” We’ve aged out of the preemie classification.

Me? I’m still a hypochondriac and slight germophobe. (A coworker once took a Kleenex from my tissue box. It’s his box now. Cooties and all.) Because sometimes WebMD is right!

So even as my muppets were free to run amuck, I continued to buy out Costco’s stock of Purell.

Until a fellow preemie mom shared a bottle of CleanSmart with me.

Nature’s Perfect Germ Killer: We believe keeping your family safe shouldn’t mean exposing them to toxic chemicals.

CleanSmart is a breakthrough hand sanitizer that kills 99.9% of germs and does not dry out your hands. It contains the same ingredient your body has always used to fight germs – Hypochlorous Acid. With simple and natural ingredients, CleanSmart replicates Hypochlorous so you don’t need to use harsh chemicals to stay healthy this cold and flu season. 

Combat the germ season with a breakthrough product that’s hypoallergenic, has added no fragrance and is safe enough to use on kids.

Far be it from me to turn down a new sanitizer! (Cooties at large people!)

Every other sanitizer I’ve used has left behind a greasy residue, while drying out my hands. The constant washing and alcohol-based antibacterial resulted in perpetually dry, chapped hands. CleanSmart has no scent at all – only leaving behind a refreshed feeling. My hands felt clean, soft and smelled like, well, my hands.

In celebration of the end of RSV lockdown for so many preemie parents out there, I’m giving away a bottle of CleanSmart spray. Just leave a comment about your own sanitization needs to enter. (This is exciting stuff, people!)

Please note, this is in no way a sponsored post. In fact, I even pulled out my CleanSmart spray to show a friend at lunch the other day.