This might gross you out…

If you're like me and you're getting sick of passing the same cold around your household, then these few tips may be helpful. There's the obvious, drink lots of water and get lots of sleep. To some of these tips you might say, "No kidding Shari", and to some you might say "Wow, I never thought of that", either way, you might just kick that bug right out of your house for good. First and foremost, I should start off by saying that you should always consult with your doctor before you do anything out of the norm or take a strange thing like a vitamin or whatever. That being said, people that live in the frozen beauty of the Northland like we do, sometimes need an extra boost of vitamin D during the winter months. This could improve your chances of staying healthy. So try upping your intake of vitamin D, but check with your doctor first.

I tell my five year old this ten thousand times a day. Get your fingers out of your nose. But seriously, where do germs come from. Inside our bodies. Our mouths, our noses. Yeah, yuck. We're a bunch of dirty little germ spreading nerfherders...(yes autocorrect add to dictionary).

Tied to that last image, wash your hands, often. Or, at least use my new friend, hand sanitizer.

One thing I did last weekend was wash all of our scarves, mittens and hats. Just think of all the drippy little noses that get wiped with those mittens when you're not looking. All the door handles and hand rails that get touched with those mittens. I don't even want to think about the less than pure white snowballs that get thrown about. Ewww...

My son has his own tablet that he plays his little games on, and for good reason. Now he thinks it's funny when he sneezes all over the screen. Next tip, clean the phones and tablets with a Lysol wipe, even go so far as to take the case off and clean under there. While you're at it, clean your remotes with the wipes, they're notorious as well for harboring the same nasty germs.

There's a commercial running now where a kid is basically sneezing and wiping his germs on things like remotes, door handles, fridge handles, drawer handles, etc. It's a bit of a stretch but the message is true, that's where the germs are. That's where we don't usually clean, and where everyone in the house grabs. So make sure to hit those areas too.

Just think of all the other things in your house that get touched and not washed. Get your mind out of the gutter you piggy. I'm talking light switches, lamp switches, hair brushes. Don't forget to toss out your lip balm that you used while you were sick. Another thing you should do is once a cold is gone, is get a new toothbrush.

Keep yourself active. Germs like the lazy. Don't go overboard, again check with your doctor.

Some say to limit your alcohol intake, but personally I say that's just madness.

Like I said at the beginning, if you're like me, you're sick of passing around the same cold and you're sick of being sick. So try using some of these simple measures and maybe you might just kick your bug to the curb. Good luck!