The Lazy Genius Podcast - #101 - The Lazy Genius Deals with Sickness

Episode Date: March 25, 2019

We’re finally talking about it, y’all -- how to Lazy Genius sickness. I’m chatting about the essentials that keep us mostly sane while we’re battling it out with germs and cranky kids. And I know what I’m talking about. Our family went through it in the first couple of months of 2019 with two bouts of the stomach bug, the flu, sinus infections, a cold that wouldn’t end… it was rough. The steps I share in this episode made it far less horrible for us, and I hope they do the same for you. Stuff Mentioned My favorite kids gummy vitamins and probiotic gummies. My Sick Kit is made up of: Clorox wipes, grocery bags, a bucket, good tissues, Zycam, and a clipboard for homework or coloring. Some older blog posts that you may not know about: How to Use Trello to Track Your Reading, The Lazy Genius Guide to Food Prep, and When You’re Not Excited About Having a Baby. Follow me on Instagram @thelazygenius. I hang out over there live every Thursday around 12:!5 pm EST. Sign up to receive the Latest Lazy Letter. The next one goes out next week! Download a transcript of this episode! This podcast is hosted by Kendra Adachi and executive produced by Kendra Adachi, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi everyone. You're listening to The Lazy Genius Podcast. I'm Kendra and I'm here to help you be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. I hope that you do not need this episode for a long time. But man, did we need it a few weeks ago. Regardless of the poor timing and missing the flu season mostly, here we are at a highly requested episode 101. The Lazy Genius deals with sickness. I've gone so many DMs on Instagram over the last couple of months with y'all like begging for this episode basically being like will you tell me how to deal with sickness will you tell me how to figure out how to get rid of sickness from my house and to deal with all the sick kids we're dealing we're figuring out how to deal because here's what here's what happens if you live with other people one person gets sick and you pray and beg like offer up sacrifices in the hopes that no one else gets it and then they do like dominoes everyone's like everyone starts falling into beds into beds into into toilets, into so much sadness, if you're my sweet first grader who had to miss his Valentine's Day

class party because he got the stomach bug and he will never forget that. But if you are a, if you're a stay at home parent, you're the one most on high alert. Having somebody sick in the house, especially like really sick with something like a stomach bug or the flu or, you know, something really awful, it puts everybody in kind of a tense space. We're all just trying to stay well. So in this episode, we're going to talk about some ways to deal with sickness when you're in it and then recover once you're out of it. Before we do that, though, I just want to give you a quick reminder. There are so many ways, so many ways that you can enjoy lazy genius tips and tricks on all

different parts of the internet. And I just want to let you know about them in case you didn't know they existed. Okay, so obviously you know about the podcast because you're listening. There are now over 100 episodes for you to go back and listen to. This might be weird to admit, sometimes I go back and listen to some myself. Sometimes I just need a reminder about why a morning routine matters and how having a kinder perspective towards gratitude, because sometimes I get a little like me about gratitude. Don't boss me around.

Don't tell me to be grateful for everything. Like sometimes I need to hear those words too. So there's a lot that you can go back and listen to. You can scroll through the archives in your podcast app or you can just go to the lazyjeaniescollective.com slash lazy. That's where all the episodes live. Another place that you can find me other than the podcast is my blog. I have a blog at the lazy genius collective.com.

So there are tons of posts there that I think would be really helpful if you to go browse. That is the lazy genius collective.com slash blog. That's where all those titles are. Posts like how to use Trello to track your reading. That's what I use to track my reading. The lazy genius guide to food prep. And a blog post that gets a lot of comments. It's kind of a vulnerable one. It's called when you're not excited about having a baby. So there's some really like practical things and then some, you know, like really personal ones. So it might be a good place So scroll around if you didn't know that was there. And then I'm also on Instagram, which you probably already know.

I show up there every Thursday live. And I also do stories pretty regularly. We have our meal plan Monday feature. I do some other fun things like cookbook reviews and I share kitchen hacks and like weird things my kids say sometimes. And then finally, and most importantly, the best place for you to connect with me is by joining my mailing list. I send out a monthly email called the lazy late.

see, I can't even say it, the latest lazy letter. The latest lazy letter. The last one just went out last week, actually. I have like book and podcast and TV show reviews, tips to become like more of a lazy genius in your home and in your schedule. I always list all the things that I have written and said so that everything is there in case you miss it. And then I always share stuff with the list that I don't really say anywhere else. So it's really fun too because a lot of you, reply to those emails and they're so encouraging. You share your ideas. I read everyone. I'm not always able to reply to everyone, but I read everyone. So in case you didn't know, those are just some ways that

you can get more lazy genius in your life outside of this podcast if you're interested in that. Okay. Let's deal with being sick. We're just going to plow through some like tips and kind of principles. We've got 10 of them. Ready? Number one, have kid friendly prevention. I don't know about you, but my kids are not exactly eating a diet, like, packed with antioxidants and things to boost their immunity. They don't eat garbage, but it's a lot to get them to chew carrots without gagging. So to make some of the, like, body chemistry stuff work more easily in our favor, our kids take, like all the time, take vitamin gummies, probiotic gummies, and then immune strength

gummies. I've used a number of different brands. We do like the Smarty Pants brand as kind of a default, but I will also gladly buy what's on sale or what gets added to Prime Pantry on Amazon. So it's just shipped to me without how to think about it. They are obviously kid-friendly because they're like basically fruit snacks. Now you can get ones that are sugar-free and those are super great. But for me, it's like easier to do those and the kids like look forward to them.

Like they remember on their own like, we didn't take our vitamins. We always take them after dinner before we go in for like baths and showers. It's part of our kind of bedtime routine. So they remember, which makes it super kid friendly. And I never remember to put like, I tried like putting essential oils on them or I'm definitely not going to try to like force feed them broccoli and blueberries to, you know, make a difference in their immunity. So that is a really, really helpful thing for us in prevention wise to take those gummies,

but to make them kid friendly by making them go. Bummies is very, very helpful. Another thing that we do that is kid-friendly, when someone in the house is sick, is having hand sanitizer out. For some reason, the difference in responses for my kids, like from when I say, go wash your hands versus like go get a squirt of magic soap, which is what their preschool teachers call it, they call hand sanitizer magic soap and it's kind of stuck. those responses, the difference, it's like night and day.

Asking them to wash their hands is like asking them to actually cut off a hand. It's so crazy. And kids are gross, man. And they always have their fingers and noses and butts and between their toes. And it's just gross. So when someone is sick, I am basically a broken record of like a panic to go wash your hands, followed by a whiny kid saying, I just did. And then I'm like, I know, but then you put your hands down your pants.

So go do it again. Now, if they put their hands on their pants, soap and like scalding hot water are the only acceptable options for me. But for the random nail biting or nose wiping or things that they sort of do subconsciously that keep those germs kind of out and about, a quick squirt of magic soap is so much easier. It's so much easier than saying go wash your hands. It's such a great option to have. So we have it on the kitchen counter during like big bouts of sickness so the kids can actually reach it. And I know, I know that there are people like Dwight Shrewd who believe in exposure to germs as being super, super good for the immune system. And while I actually

agree with that, like that's like proven, the more we're exposed to things, the more hearty we become, I also don't want to risk like beefing up their antibodies at the expense of like them throwing up later. You know, I don't want to risk it. So when someone gets sick, out comes the magic soap. I make it kid-friendly. Now, there are other ways, obviously, that you can approach this principle with your kids if you have kids. So just notice things that they complain about that you can shift just a bit to make them not whine

so much so that you like want to run away, which we don't want to do when our children are sick anyway. We need to take care of them. We don't need to leave them. But it's so frustrating sometimes. So have prevention and dealing with germs and all of that as kid-friendly as you can, especially when you're in the thick of it. Okay, so that's number one. Number two, have a sick kit, sick survival kit.

I'm not saying it all has to be like packed together in a double bag, like, you know, you're going to the hospital to have a baby or something. But knowing what tools you need and like having them in your house, if you can, is super, super helpful, especially when somebody gets sick and you really don't want to have to wait for two days for prime shipping or to even go to the drugstore if you've got a vomiting kid, you know? So our sick kit, it includes chlorox wipes for toilets and doorknobs real fast, a grocery bag for trash, like for tissues and all that stuff that's like in the room with the kid. There's several and several rooms. A bucket and for, you know, things that come out of their

mail. And then like a million extra grocery bags so that you can like layer the bucket, right? Like double bag that thing. So you don't have to wash, throw up out of a bucket. That's such a sad thing. They also sell those barf bags that you get on planes. Pretty sure you can get those on Amazon. But have an easy vomit disposal station. Please. Have it chosen. Like already know what you're going to do. Like we have a bucket in our house. The kids call it the throwup bucket. So, you know, it's gross, but super helpful. The next item in the sick kit, tissues, obviously that needs to be around, but I'm telling you guys, this is not the time to save 75 cents on tissues that are like basically sandpaper.

You need to spring for the good stuff. You spring for ultra soft or lotion or like gold laced in that and get the bulk pack. Like get all the good tissues. We went through three boxes when our family had sinus infections a few months ago. And while I am sad at what we contributed to the waste situation in this country, my nose was so very grateful. Oh my gosh. So splurge on the good tissues, you need those. They will make everybody less yelly when their nose hurts all the time.

I also have Zycam in my house. It's kind of like in my mental kit. I always try to have it around. That was my sister's suggestion. My sister Hannah, she encouraged me to get them when I had the slightest feeling of a cold coming on. And everybody had been so sick. And I was like, I can't be sick again. Like I was so frustrated.

And so she said, go get Zicam really fast. And they really helped. There are these little zinc tablets that you suck on like candy. They're like dissolvable melt, melt candy, melt medicine things. You know what I'm talking about? It's fine. You put them in your mouth and they dissolve. They melt away and they have medicine in them.

And they make recovery time way quicker. And I think they even help like the sickness from growing. So if you have it, it's the recovery is faster, but it also sort of keeps the sickness from growing more. My husband and I, we both have been using them over the last few months when we feel something coming and they're great. They really are great. And then one other like really random things.

that's so helpful when kids are homesick is a clipboard. I know that has nothing to do with germs, but it has something to do with like comfort and entertainment. A clipboard, it makes, you know, like lounging and coloring, doing all the homework that you have to make up, like all that stuff. It makes it so much easier because like the kid is, you know, in various positions and very sad. And so they don't want to have to sit up to do things.

So a clipboard, it just makes it so much easier. ours gets really good mileage during sick days. So those are some of the things that we have in our sick kit mentally. And, you know, again, it's not like a double bag, but it's nice to know, like, this is what we need, pull out these things. So think of what you cannot live without when somebody is sick and make sure you always have it around or at least know exactly what you need for that quick run to the store when you're on the way home from the doctor, you know?

Write it down in your notes app and your phone. like if you really want to have it all written down, something like that, just know your essentials and then have a sick kit. Number three, have a sick kit or like close to it in every room or at least the essentials that you need in multiples, like throughout the house. Even things like chapstick, you know, like when you're, we need to wipe your nose so much. And if you didn't splurge on the on the ultra soft tissues, then your lips really get chapped because they're like always being aggravated by those tissues. even having things like chapstick in a couple of rooms, like having one by their bed, having one in the main family room,

one in the bathroom. Now, I know that kind of thing, it might feel really excessive. But when you have one box of tissues in a bedroom and then somebody has an epic sneeze in the family room, it's just, it's kind of a drag. So have essentials throughout the house. Because remember, one of the hardest things

about being sick or taking care of somebody who's sick is that somebody is usually a mobile and they're also exceptionally needy. So meeting needs as close as a kid can reach them. You know, like having those things as close to their fingertips as you can, no matter what room they're in, is super, super helpful. Okay. Aw, isn't something we need to travel for. It's something waiting for us in everyday life,

whether in a city street or a moment with a work of art. I'm Dr. Keltner, host of the Science of Happiness, podcast. Join me for Cities of Aw, a special series on how our public spaces can spark awe, wonder, and enhance the quality of public life. You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts. Number four, skip schedules. I know that, I know this is kind of obvious and possibly annoying, but hear me out. For someone like me and maybe you who just like loves routines and rhythms and certain things happening at certain times of day, a sick house throws all of that out the window. And that is okay. You're not going to die because lunchtime, bedtime,

and screen time, and all the times, they get mixed up and all over the place. A sick house doesn't need schedules. And while it's hard to release that, especially as the person who probably puts most of those schedules into motion, it is important to let yourself and your family off the hook. Skip the schedule. Let it go. You'll get back on track later.

Number five. Make a pallet. This is what my mom called like a bed of blankets that she made for me when I was sick. A pallet is a strange kind of magic for a kid and even for an adult. You get like an old air mattress or you set something up in the corner of the couch or even just like a pile of blankets on the floor if you don't have an air mattress to make soft, you basically create like a resting place for the kid. It's cozy and special and it makes feeling badly a little bit easier. Some of you shared with me on Instagram that you even set

this kind of thing up in the bathroom. So if the kid with a stomach bug has to throw up, the toilet is literally right there, but they're not lying on the bathroom floor, cold. They have like a little bed. It's so fun. It's a little weird, but it's also so fun. The other thing that's super helpful about it is creating boundaries with other kids. It's easy to say to a sibling, like, don't touch the blankets. The kids can get on the couch. Like, let's say your sick kid is like in one corner of the couch in their palette, right, on their blanket, on and under all the blankets. The other kids, they know that they can get on the couch, but they know to stay away from the sick kid and they have like a physical, tangible boundary that sort of makes sense,

especially for little ones. Like, don't get on the blanket. Don't get on the blanket. That's a sick blanket. Stay away from the sick blanket. I have a slightly teenagery third grader right now. And when I made him a palette, he didn't really say much and he acted like it was kind of dumb. But once he started feeling better and I pulled up the blankets to wash them, like I took down the palate, he cried actual tears. He was so sad to lose that space. And I get it. Palettes are, I don't know. They're just oddly magical. Number six, lean into the laundry. Sick times are probably not the time for utilizing laundry day because you're cleaning

stuff up all the time. Or you're really behind on like regular household chores because you're caring for people and you might be sick yourself. So lean into the loads that pile up if you just have to do them as they come, lean into that or lean into doing like a random load, even if it's not your way of doing. doing things. Like you can have like a whole laundry day and you feel like all you're doing is laundry. Or you can be like, I'm going to let it pile up because that's not essential right now. Like you just sort of have to lean into what your current laundry situation is despite how you normally do things.

Because again, you need to skip the schedules and the regular rhythms for right now. If you expect them, like if a kid gets sick on a Tuesday and Tuesday is laundry day, I'm not saying this from experience at all. And then you're like a little bit resentful because you need to do your laundry, but you have to take care of your kid, you're going to be really bummed, you know? So let it go. Just let it go. Let go of the expectations of what's supposed to happen with your laundry. And then once everyone is like on the other side of Germ Mountain, you can just like lean into it again. And it's like, all right, laundry days back and it's going to take longer because we have more, but it's okay. One thing that's helpful to when you are

starting back into laundry is to start with sheets and blankets because, um, Sheets are so big and they take up most of the washer and dryer. So, like, there's no thought in it. You just take the sheets off the bed, put them in the washer, and turn the thing on. So when a kid gets better, like, especially if you have more than one kid sick in the house at the same time, like they're, you know, they're in that domino effect. When a kid gets better, go ahead and take care of their sheets and blankets. And that way, when everyone's better, you're not doing like four beds worth all at once.

So when a kid gets better, wash their sheets. also don't forget to wash their palette blankets. It's very important. Okay, number seven. So you have a sick kit. I also want you to have a sick plan. And this might seem a little bit silly, but I'm telling you, they can really help you. I want you to go ahead and decide one time, like right now before people get sick. What will happen when somebody is laid up and homesick? Things like, what are we going to have for dinner? And I know that's crazy. I know you think I'm bonkers, but it's like if someone is homesick, we're having chicken soup for dinner. Like, go ahead and decide that. Or when someone gets sick, we're picking up food from this place. When someone gets sick, we're going to depend on one of these

brainless crowd pleasers. Like, just go ahead and know, it's like the trigger is someone's homesick, dinner is decided. Now, if you already have like a meal plan done and dinner is sort of ready to go, do it, go for it. But if you're like scrambling, rather than scramble, like go ahead and have a choice made for something that you know you can make, that you don't have to think. You don't have to think about too much and that can get on the table even if you're taking care of people. Another thing that you can sort of go ahead and decide, already know if you're going to let your kids watch TV all day or not. Like, I know that that is another thing that seems kind of silly, but they're in their home and you're like, oh, what are we going to do? Go ahead and just know,

like, when we're sick, we eat chicken soup and we watch Netflix. Or we watch Netflix for two hours and then we take a nap and then we read and maybe we'll try and then we start it up. over again. Or maybe you're like, no, we're not going to watch TV. Like, just go ahead and make your choices, I think, because it's easier to start from something already having been done and decided and changing it versus trying to come up with something like out of the blue on the fly. Okay? So think about like the tiny decisions that build up and stress you out when somebody is sick and see which ones that you can decide now that can be true for every time somebody to get sick. And if you're the main, like, cook and runner of the household because you're just the one home or whatever, have a sick plan for when you get sick.

Talk it out with, like, a partner or an older kid. Like, this is a great meal to make. These are the things that we can let slide and things that we probably can't. Like, again, I know I sound insane. But being the tiniest bit proactive in those areas that make you absolutely crazy in a sick house, decide them now before. before you get crazy. Just go ahead and even just one decision, make one decision. And it will make sick days so much easier. Okay, number eight, I want you to go outside if it's not like super freezing. If weather allows you to use the outdoors, fresh air is obviously good for sick people,

but it's also nice for non-sick people, like to play and have fun. And they can still be in the proximity of the sick person without worrying about a ton of germs. So again, obviously, this depends so much on the weather in the season. But like we bundled up and we had a meal outside. Like it was kind of nice. Just sending your kids out to play in the yard or like to do homework outside is nice. It's easy. See, here's what it is. It's easy to get a really narrow focus to put blinders on with where we are and forget that like you can do things differently. Like when you feel like you're sick in the house, you feel like you can never leave. Go out on the porch. You know, like just walk around the block, go eat a snack outside. You have like an entire playroom at your

disposal by just going outside. So this is just your reminder to do that. As long as you don't freeze, just don't forget about being outside, especially with your sick person. Okay, number nine. Limit what will have to be disinfected. Okay? Limit it. Here's how. So dishes are easy because they already go in the dishwasher. But think about the things that don't already naturally get clean. Like clothes, clothes and dishes are obvious because they're going to get clean regularly. That's like part of their lifespan. But like toys, oh my gosh, when you have sick kids and all the germs, every toy they touch, it feels like it could be ground zero. It's so panicky. So if you get hit with something big in your house, like the flu or the stomach bag,

consider a temporary vacation for most of the toys in your house. Limit what your kids can play with and read whatever. Limit it to a number that does it make you crazy to think about having to wipe down every single one of those things with Clark's wipe. And only have those items out until everyone is well. And that way when everyone is well, back to normal, you just pull out the baskets and bins of toys that went on their germ-free vacation and you don't have to worry about cleaning them at all.

One thing that you could do is you could give each kid like a small box or bag or something that they can fill with their favorite toys. And these are the toys that get to stay in the sick house. And then once there's no more sick house, everything comes back. But until then, the rest of the toys are going on vacation. Now, that complete idea might sound insane, as many of these things do. Or maybe like completely it won't work. But the idea is to limit what items are exposed to jurors. so that you have less to clean at the end of everything. That's really the idea. So whatever that means,

limit what has to be disinfected. So toys, that was the example there. But you just want to think about like, oh, I don't want to have to clean all those things. So how can I not clean all those things? How do I move those things out? Limit what will have to be disinfected. And then that leads us to our final number 10, have a detox plan. And here's the order. Here's your plan. I'm just going to go going to give it to you. Okay, so you're going to, when everybody's well, and you're like, everything's gross. Oh my gosh, the germs, the trash, the tissues are everywhere. What am I going to do? Medicine bottles. Like, I felt like I was drowning in bottles of antibiotics. Here's what you're going to do. First, you're going to start a load of laundry with your easiest choice being a load of sheets and blankets,

since there's very little folding to do. And they are, they're kind of essential for a detox plan. because like imagine you guys imagine the gift that you're giving yourself or whoever was sick by letting them crawl into a bed that is covered in clean sheets now that they feel so much better like that is a feeling that I want to give my people so start with just go ahead and start a load of sheets okay now while those sheets are washing I want you to choose one room to attack and here's how you choose which room will make you feel more like a person even if the other rooms get ignored for now. Like which room needs to be clean and then it makes everything else better even if everything else doesn't get clean. Okay. That's the room you choose. So what you're going to do

is you're going to go into that room. You're going to pick up a trash bag. You're going to throw away all the trash, right? You're going to put away all the little things. You're going to fluff the pillows and fold the blankets. You're going to put medicine back in the bathroom cabinets. You're clearing the decks you're clearing the surfaces like you would if someone was coming over and you were doing like a quick sweep of the room okay so now you've cleared up all the stuff now you're going to get a microfiber cloth or a dust rag or something and i want you to quickly dust all the surfaces everything like even the doorknobs now why is that because we're about to go over a lot of these same surfaces with wet disinfectant wipes and if you don't get the dust off first you're going to lose your mind in wiping

all the dust from surface to surface. It's maddening. So dust, then disinfect. Get your wipe or get your rag and your spray. Spray your rag. I want you to wipe off the doorknobs, the table edges, light switches, lamp knobs, TV remotes. Now this feels overwhelming when you're thinking about it now, but it's not as hard to do when you have cleared off all your stuff. Like you've already put your stuff away, right? And you already dusted all the surfaces. You're going in the right order, and that matters. Now, vacuum or swift or the floor or something, if you have the time, if you want to. And by this time, it's actually probably time to switch over your load of laundry. How great is that? Now, do you still have time? Start a new load of laundry and then do the same thing in the next room. If you don't have more time

until the next day, just start with the next room the next day. And I will say this. I want you to make getting that laundry back in its proper place a priority. There is not much that makes a house feel like you're drowning in it than piles of laundry, especially those bed sheets. Oh my gosh, putting sheets on beds when the kid is actually like needing to go to bed or when you have to go to bed. It's the absolute worst. So make that your priority. Unless someone is dying or like a toddler is pooping on the floor in the corner, you need to just drop whatever you're doing when that dryer buzzes. and put those sheets on the bed. Just do it. And then don't forget about yourself in your detox plan. If you've been running the show and taking care of all the people, you need a little reward. You need a

little space once everyone is well again. So do a kid swap with another mom, hire a sitter, go out for the day on like an upcoming Saturday when your husband is home, go for a walk, eat a salad, stand in the sun, read a book, do your own detox to get the pressure and stress of caring for a sick house out of your system. It is a worthy thing that we do as parents to care for all of the humans. And it's also good to acknowledge and celebrate that when you have made a sacrifice like that, like, it's really hard. It's really hard to take care of a sick house. So kind of give yourself like a little pat on the back, your own cheerleader and do your own detox after. Go be a person just for a little bit.

And that's how a lazy genius deals with sickness. Now, there are obviously like, oh my gosh, tons of ideas and things I did not cover today. But those are the essentials that keep us, that keep our family, like mostly sane during times like this. And our family went through it in the first couple of months of 2019. We had two bouts of the stomach bug, the flu, sinus infections. my daughter still has a cold. It was rough. It was just bonkers. And these principles,

these 10 things made it far less horrible. And I hope they do the same for you. Okay. Well, that is it for today. I want you to join me this Thursday. I'm going to be on Instagram, as I always am, live, around 12.15 Eastern. And you can ask your questions about this,

all for your ideas. I know that there are lots of ideas. I'm so excited to hear them. So you can follow me on Instagram. Instagram and join me at the lazy genius. Okay, that's all for today. Thank you for listening. I'm Kendra, and until next time, be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. See you next week. If you ever felt like you were living just a B or B plus life, it's so dangerous to live that. More dangerous than a B minus or a C plus life, because when you're living a B or B plus life,

you don't change it. You think it's good enough. Is it? I'm Susie Welch. I host a podcast. called Becoming You. People think, okay, an A-plus life is not available to me, but there is a way. We are all in the process of becoming ourselves. Listen to Becoming You wherever you get your podcasts.