THURSDAYS: Health ideas and Issues

I remember a record we used to listen to when I was really young that had a song about housework. It went like this:

“Mommy hates housework, Daddy hates housework, everyone hates housework, but we all do it anyway.”

My mom hated that song!  She said she liked housework and it doesn’t have to be drudgery.  She may have been fibbing a little, but as a result, I actually LIKE housework (except laundry that is). 

What messages are you sending to your kids about housework?  Do they think its drudgery, or do they consider a necessary part of life, with great rewards.

Keeping our house clean goes way beyond trying to impress the neighbors.   Its actually good for the kids health, both physically and mentally.  There are health benefits to having a clean house AND mental benefits to getting your kids to pitch in.

• Keep the germs out! Disease causing bacteria is EVERYWHERE!   We are not germophobic in the least (as illustrated by the picture of Ketchup boy above at 1 years old eating dirt), however it is prudent to clean up where you know bacteria resides.  The most bacteria in a person’s home is on the door knobs.  This is a job all three of my kids are capable of doing.  Spray a cloth with a disinfectant spray and let them go from room to room with it.  The second place is the light switch plates.  This simple task, performed often will cut back on colds and flu’s.
• Prevent injury!  Keeping your home clean helps keep your kids safe!  Have they ever stumbled over a pile of clothes, and then hit their head on the corner of a table?  Pick up stuff!
• Allergens are flying around everywhere.  Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum.  Keep the sheets and mattresses cleaned and vacuumed too to remove dust mites, dead skin, and other allergy causing things you can’t see.
• Cleaning saves you money.  When you have a clean home, you know where things are and don’t have to go out buying duplicates.
• The Mental benefits of a clean house seem obvious to me.  There is peace, calm, happiness and joy with a clean house.  Keep the shades open, the home bright, they chaos under control, and your kids are more pleasant.

Here is how we keep our house under control:

1. We all pitch in.  From a very young age your child can have jobs and chores.  Working side by side with your kids helps them to know what you expect, teaches them to do it right, and gives you time with that child.
2. The kids know the one touch rule.  Why put a wrapper on the floor when it would have been easier to put it in the garbage.  The floor, THEN the garbage takes more energy.
3. Picking up every night.  Cleaning up the clutter every night is part of a routine.  When you wake up to a clean house, your day seems to go much more smoothly.  You can find your school clothes, school work, books, etc.
4. Once a week deep clean.  Ususally Saturdays we all pitch in to clean something with more intensity.  Bathrooms, floors, walls, floor boards etc.
5. My kids have expected work… unload dishwasher, empty garbages, clean room, make bed, laundry.  But when they want some extra money or more video game time I’ve got:  weeding, dusting, windows, window tracks, etc.  Jobs we don’t even get done weekly, but I save for money jobs.

Any suggestions of what works in your homes to keep things clean?

Pomegranate juice can possibly be the most powerfully packed beneficial juices we have.  Plus, we liked it!  POM Wonderful sent us a case of pomegranate juice to try. Buying whole pomegranates can be so messy.  Have you ever tried to get pomegranate stains out of your clothes from dropping a seed, or cutting one open and it squirts you! It is DARK PURPLE.  Because of the darkness of the fruit, there are some powerful antioxidant properties.  According to Dr. Fuhrman, pomegranate juice is good for your heart, blood vessels, inhibits cancer formation, and actually has been proven to clean plaque out of your arteries.  Not only that, he states studies show pomegranate juice helps with depression as well as improves bone mass.  POM Wonderful also lists some benefits, including ANTI-AGING! Gotta love that.  For a list of the benefits on the POM site, click here.

We have used our pomegranate juice for a few things.  It tastes like grape juice according to the flip-flopper.  So we brought it on a hike. What a better way to hydrate and get energy than gatorade or any other fake drink.  I’ve been putting it in our smoothies all week, and I froze a little juice for ice cubes.  Then, because we love the size of the bottles and the shape, we recycled them and used them for water bottles!!!  LOVED IT. 

Now for the fabulous give-away!! Pomegranate juice can get a bit pricey for struggling budgets, but I have 4 coupons for a FREE 16 oz bottle of juice, and 4 coupons for a free 16 oz bottle of pomegranate tea.  (We have not tried the tea because my family doesn’t drink tea), but if you do, you’ll love this coupon.  So for 4 lucky winners, I will send one of each coupon to your house. You have Friday and Saturday to enter, and I will pick a winner on Sunday.  Enter the comments what you would do with the juice if you won:  Drink it straight, make smoothies, make popsicles, put it in your food storage, bake something with one of the recipes on the POM  site,  or hide it in your secret stash so you don’t have to share it with the kids… Anything you want.