

I recently came across a Facebook meme that defined mum flu as being exactly like normal flu except no one cares (it used slightly more colourful language, but you get the idea). It got me thinking about all the times I’ve been sick since having kids and how lying on the couch under a doona has been an impossible feat. First of all, it only takes my toddlers about three seconds to find me. Then there’s my job where getting everything done in part-time hours is already a challenge without factoring in a sick day.
While my husband and I are very non-1950s in our approach to parenthood and chores, his work requires him to travel a bit so if I don’t stay healthy, it’s impossible to keep our busy life chugging along. When it comes to coughs and colds, prevention is key. Here are some things you can do to help fend off those dreaded bugs.
1. Sanitise your hands.
Underneath the nappies, half empty snack containers and crumpled shopping receipts, you will always find hand sanitiser in my bag. Colds are spread by sneezing, coughing and hand contact, so when you can’t get to a bathroom to wash your hands with soap, hand sanitiser can help keep bugs at bay.

Image: Giphy.com
2. Keep the medicine cupboard stocked.
There is nothing worse than feeling the first ominous dry tickle and opening the medicine cupboard to find you are all out of cough medicine. Keeping a variety of medication on hand will save you the 1am trip to the 24-hour pharmacy where you will inevitably run into an ex-boyfriend while braless and wearing ugg boots.
3. Make friends with broccoli.
Eating lots of fruit and veggies will fill your body with the vitamins and minerals needed to keep you healthy and snot-free. So if it’s a cold night and a bowl of chocolate cake with double cream is calling your name, try to make sure your main course is packed with green leafy veggies.

Top Comments
Echinacea has been clinically proven to work in lessening the length of time a person is sick with a cold. I am a firm believer in specific vitamins like C, B complex, zinc to help your body overcome these illnesses. Broccoli is never going to help anyone get over a cold.
If you catch a cold or flu virus, no amount of broccoli will "keep you snot-free".
Plus, slightly off-topic, there is no such time as 12pm. PM means "post meridiem" - or, "after midday". So, you could argue that midnight is 12pm (and I have argued this, just to piss people off) but, strangely, that's not how most people seem to use it - and I assume that's not how you're using it either, in which case there's no argument that makes your usage correct since midday is clearly never after midday.