Do You Know Where Germs Stick in Your Home? #GermsStick

**I am presenting this in partnership with Clorox and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.**

I sat in the pediatricians office with two of my children anxiously awaited the diagnoses for why my 5 year old was up all night getting sick. As the double whammy of Strep AND the Flu was told to me, the mommy berating began. Why wasn’t I more careful about where germs are in my house? Now that we are at the end of the cycle through the house, I am learning more and more about where germs stick. Places I never considered! More than just on the toilet and on door knobs. But on the trash cans and other places I need to be aware of! So, the question has become, Do you Know Where Germs Stick in Your Home?

Germs stick to all types of surfaces, and kids spread them to more places than you can imagine. To help parents uncover the “germiest” hot spots from the living room to the common area to the bathroom, The Clorox Company and global public health organization, NSF International, conducted a study in homes of parents with young children. Researchers analyzed 100 samples from five commonly-touched surfaces, and not only did they find bacteria or viruses on all five of the surfaces tested, but survey results also revealed misconceptions about which surfaces harbor the most germs in the home. In fact, the surfaces parents perceived to be the least germy actually had the most germs of those that were tested.

Yea, I had to read that last paragraph a few times too! I always think places like the bathroom sink, which has soap in it all the time from hand washing, is fairly germ free. WRONG. Despite the fact that 90 percent of parents surveyed ranked the kitchen drawer knob as the germiest surface, other spots around the home, like the kitchen countertop, bathroom sink and bathroom faucet handle, harbored more germs and viruses.

ICK!

In fact, and no it was not my home, but Influenza A was found in the home of a person who had the flu, demonstrating the importance of frequently disinfecting surfaces when someone in your family is sick to prevent the spread of germs.

So I have looked at the study and am making some serious changes. I don’t want to relive ‘Flu Week’ in my home anytime soon! My kids always cough and sneeze into their elbows and I make sure they wash their hands frequently. I also kept them home from school until I knew the contagious period was over. Next year I will schedule their Flu shots EARLY and make sure that we are all set. In addition, I have put Clorox Wipes in every bathroom and in my kitchen to use to eliminate germs whenever I need to. I will be using them IN the bathroom sink and on light switches and more.