What to Expect: Guide to a Healthy Home

You know that book that was pretty much your Bible for the entire time you were pregnant, "What to Expect When You’re Expecting"? Well now there’s a much smaller guide from the "What to Expect" people that includes tips on how to have a healthy home. The best part? You can get yourself one for free (details below).

I first sat down to read it while I was eating my lunch. I wouldn’t recommend eating while reading, since there are frequent mentions of "snot," "feces," and other icky terms. The guide is divided into two sections: "Keeping Your House Healthy," and "Healthy Habits for Your Family."

My first impressions of the guide went something like this: "What? I’m supposed to actually wash my curtains every once in a while?" The guide offers great tips for those with allergies and asthma, on how to combat the dust mites and the irritation they can bring to everyday lives. For anyone with allergies, this guide is a must-have. Did you know that you can stick non-washable stuffed animals in a bag in the freezer overnight to kill dust mites and other allergens? I certainly didn’t. You can also do the same with other materials that can’t be easily washed.

The guide also discusses the playroom and how to make sure germs aren’t spread from toy to toy and child to child. Kitchen safety is also addressed, and I am happy to say that I would have scored an A+ on this section. My curtains may be dusty but my cutting board is clean y’all.

The "Healthy Habits for Your Family" section is your anti-flu and cold companion. You know how Barney, that loveable purple dinosaur, encourages children to sneeze into their elbows? Yeah, do that. It helps if there’s not a tissue around to do your business to eliminate germs on hands. There are also tips on how to get your kids to 1. use soap and 2. wash for a long enough period of time. Singing the ABC’s twice or even three times if you have a singer on fast forward is a great way to get those germs taken care of in the sink. There are also other great tips for avoiding the flu, and keeping germs from spreading throughout the entire family.

The most exciting part of the guide for me was the very useful information about the 3-second rule. You know, the one where you can drop a piece of food on the floor and still eat it if you can bend quickly enough? That one. Let me break it down for you. The 3-second rule (and even beyond 3 seconds is o.k. too) applies as long as whatever you’ve dropped is dry onto a dry surface, and as long as we’re talking about indoors. If the dropped item is wet or dropped outside, don’t go there. It’s that simple.

There are also plenty of handy tips for children in child care situations, and even includes help on how to choose a daycare that’s not flu-friendly. This guide was published by the "What to Expect Foundation." If you’d like to get your own copy, you can do so at the Clorox website.

For addressing just about every possible place that germs could thrive, and for being 100% free, BBM gives "What To Expect: Guide to a Healthy Home". . .