survival tips for indoor cats

this post is sponsored by our friends at nutrish. all opinions and thoughts are, as always, our own.

my cats are exclusively indoor cats. they just are. i feel like a helicopter parent where they are concerned. when they were baby kittens, the most precious little fur balls ever, all i could imagine was sending them into the great outdoors to be a snack for the countless hawks and coyotes in the woods beyond my house. i couldn't handle the thought of them becoming a meal for some neighboring predator so, indoors they stayed.

they have free reign of the house and chase each other day and night over every square inch of our place. they are healthy and happy but there are some things that i have to do differently because my cats are exclusively indoors. if you have indoor cats of your own, these tips can help to make your little fur ball's day too.

give them some way to exercise and play

my two cats are brother and sister and, like my own children, they have a love/hate relationship. they play and fight and then fight and play all day, everyday, until they crash and sleep for ten hours. they do a pretty good job of simply playing and wrestling with one another but i also like to provide other toys to keep them busy. my absolute favorite new toy for my cats is this spinning butterfly. it is literally endless entertainment and they cannot get enough of it. whether you buy this one or find an amazing toy of your own, toys to entertain your cats will keep them (and you) happy while they are in the house.

or just give them a box to play in...

get a great scratching post

cats can destroy furniture faster than you can say retractable claws. there is only one way to avoid that and that is with an amazing scratching post or toy. there are so many out there but i don't want anything too big or cumbersome in my house. there are a couple that we love. 

the cat wheel

perfusion 3 cat scratcher

get a great litter box

i hate cleaning the litter box. it is literally my least favorite chore. i know it costs some money, but buying a good litter box is worth every. single. penny. if you get a great box when your cats are kittens, they will be happy with it their whole life through. this one is absolutely magical. one box to throw away, once per month. done. best. box. ever.

scoopfree ultra self cleaning litter box

give them food created for indoor cats

it's no secret that we are big nutrish fans and have been since our cats were kittens. we were thrilled when they announced their new "indoor complete" cat food. this is perfect for our little hair balls. the cats love the food and we know the cats are getting just what they need for their indoor cat health. rachael ray nutrish indoor complete chicken with lentils and salmon recipe is a natural food for cats with added vitamins, minerals and taurine. the recipe contains a real superfood blend to meet the complete needs of your adult indoor cat and is available right where you shop for your family's groceries. chicken is the number one ingredient and the recipe also contains lentils which are rich in fiber and protein and low in fat to help maintain the optimal body weight in your cats. this is especially important for my mr. darcy. my oldest son says, "he's not fat, he's just big boned." he may at this point just qualify as fat. he is hefty by any standard and needs a good cat food that can help him maintain his rather broad but lovely physique. 

we also love buying rachael ray's nutrish because of how they give back. rachael's rescue was created for all the forgotten pets, the ones who might not have someone who loves them as much as they deserve. a portion of the proceeds from each sale of nutrish is donated to the rachael ray foundation, which helps animals in need through rachael's rescue. through december 2016, rachael's rescue has donated more than $17.5 million dollars to pet charities and other organizations that do good for animals. the funds are used for food, medical supplies, treatments and more for animals in need. it's amazing what they are able to do with the money they give and i feel good about feeding my cats what they need and giving back as well. it's a win-win. 

there you have it friends. cats really are so easy to care for and they make the kids so happy...and me as well. a few simple tips can make life with indoor cats just a little bit easier. that's something i can get on board with any day. 

what i wish i had known about raising a teenage son

my oldest is 13, quickly approaching 14. i'm proud of him, of the person he is becoming and of the potential i see in him. still, parenting a teenager is hard, harder than i ever realized for reasons i never imagined. i'm having to walk through an entire new set of emotions and loss that i never expected. so to all of you moms of little boys, amidst the chaos of the younger years, here is what i wish i would have known.

your son will push you away

i keep telling myself that this is normal. this is what is supposed to happen. he is supposed to rely more on himself, less on me. it doesn't change the fact that this process is incredibly painful. daily my mind races back to the baby he was, the moments i spent rocking him to sleep, the songs i sung to him to calm him as an infant. i recall every time i had to pry his hands off my legs and wipe his tears so i could leave the house without him, every time he wanted to hold my hand for a little extra security, every time he asked me to hold him when he was hurting. with those memories your mama heart breaks just a little bit each day for that time you will never get back. as much as you long for your son to be independent and that you understand that his success depends on him standing on his own two feet, you will long for the time when he would walk around the house clinging to yours...and it will hurt that those days are gone. 

their voice will scare you

it feels like my son's voice changed overnight. it is deep and manly and i have been frightened more than once thinking a stranger is in my house, only to realize moments later that it is just my son's new voice booming through the halls. that's the thing that hit me the hardest. i spent his whole life listening to his sweet little words. i could recognize his voice in a crowd. i knew how he sounded and how he cried. he could say, "mommy" and i knew it was me he was talking to, even in a room full of other moms. i knew that sweet voice like i know my own and then one day, you realize you will never, ever hear that voice again. it has sent me on a frantic search through old videos to find the voice that was lost, for some proof that the voice i know so well once existed. i miss that voice. you will miss your son's one day too.

it is wonderful and awful at the same time

it is a joy to watch my son grow into the man he is becoming. it's fun to watch him understand sarcasm and to develop a comedic sense of humor. he is smart, a great student, a hard worker. he is a lot of amazing things and i get to look at him and say, "i helped shape this boy." it gives some validity to the work that is raising another human being. still, it makes the heart of this mom ache a little as i compare this teenager to the little boy that was, the thin hallow cheeks with the chubby ones i used to shower with kisses. where he used to snuggle with me for hours, i have to force my hugs on him each day whether he likes it or not, not just because he needs it, but because i need it. in the midst of all the letting go, of letting him grow up, i need to know that the little boy who adored his mama is still in there somewhere. i will smile at him when he can see me, cheer for him publicly and cry my tears of loss in private. no one warned me of this, this painful loss that comes as your child takes step after step away from you. it's wonderful and amazing to see first hand the person they are but it's awful and painful to say goodbye to the child they were, your child, your baby who has been replaced with the man he will become. 

still, i wouldn't trade it for the world. it makes every moment i spent with him that much more precious, the knowing that it was fleeting, that the moments weren't forever. i am watching him grow. i am watching him get more and more ready to go, to leave me and go out on his own. you will watch your sons do it too and that's just how it is supposed to be, it's what we moms have worked so hard for for so many years and watching this happen is amazing and wonderful and it fills us with joy. but in equal measures it fills us with heartache because it's impossible to separate the two people that your son is. the one child you raised and spent years feeding, changing, snuggling, kissing, teaching, whose sweet voice saying, "i love you, mommy," filled your tank and made you overflow with love. the one had the scabbed knees, the torn jeans, the dirty face and the tears you wiped away. the other person is a tall, lanky almost man, with a voice you don't recognize, with his own friends, his own interests, his own life, one that you fit into a lot less than you used to. it's the memories that we can't separate that makes this process hard. and then, one day as he opens the door on his way to middle school, he will call back with is man voice and say, "i love you, mommy," and you'll recognize the voice and relish the sound of the words and you will realize that it will be okay. we were built for this, for raising them to leave, no matter how difficult that may be.

the business of dying

it has happened to us twice now, the late night phone call, the terrible news, the unexpected tragedy. thirteen years ago my husband and i were asleep in a hotel room in cartagena, colombia when we got the call that his brother, a 25 year old sheriff's deputy in florida, had been shot and killed in the line of duty. a little over a month ago, we got another unexpected call. my husbands incredibly healthy, fit and relatively young father had died out of the blue of a pulmonary embolism. there was no warning for either death. they were both shocking and awful and tragic.

both of these experiences taught us a great deal. among those things is this: there is a great deal of business in dying. these are the all consuming tasks that fill up the days immediately after someone dies. these are the details and the phone calls and the decisions that have to be made. this is the work that is exhausting but still pulls you out of bed each morning to do it some more. it's daunting and horrible and difficult and i don't know a person out there who enjoys the process of it all. still, it is necessary.

having done it twice unprepared and having seen others go through it even after watching someone suffer a long illness, there are certain things everyone...let me say that again...e.v.e.r.y.o.n.e. should do to help those left behind in the case of an unexpected or even expected death. you guys, do these things. it is so difficult to be on the survivor side of a death and it's even harder when you have to make decisions without knowing what the deceased would have wanted. do this for the people you love...it really will speak volumes of your love for them.

write a will

or write a trust. or get something in writing. tell people where you want your things to go. make it official. sign it. notarize it. stop any bartering or questions before they start. if you have something special that you want to go to a specific person, don't just tell them in private. write it down. people are ruled by emotions after a death and they don't make logical decisions. they also won't remember or honor what you may or may not have said. just write it down. do it while you are young and check it every single year. something like this can help preserve family relationships.

make sure everyone knows what you would want at your funeral

i never used to think this was important but i have been to several funerals now and i know now more than ever exactly what i don't want as well as what i do. i've seen so many things that are absolutely the opposite of what i would want for myself and i've learned that, more times than not, those planning the funerals are making emotional decisions and are not always thinking clearly. after my father-in-law's funeral, my husband and i sat down and made it clear for one another. should one of us ever pass away, the other one knows what to do. our next step is to put it in writing. make sure people know if you want a viewing, if you want a casket or to be cremated, if you want certain song sung at your funeral, if you want your ashes in a specific place, if you want to be buried, if you want a head stone. if you can plan it in advance, do it. yes, it's morbid and a horrible conversation to have. i hope we'll be around for a very long time. still, i don't want anyone guessing what i would want or spending money on something that is not needed.

understand the costs involved

funerals are expensive. coffins are expensive. burial plots are expensive. always make sure there is an "in case of emergency" credit card or fund somewhere that can be used to pay for expenses. the last thing anyone wants is to have the wishes of a love one that they can't fulfill because they can't afford to pay for it. 

make a list of assets and update it annually

my husband has been doing this since the year his brother was killed. he has written a list of every life insurance policy we have, the account number, the password, the contact person, the amount in that policy and how soon i can get it. every bank account, every savings account, every retirement account, every ira, every single account that is in one of our names is written down completely with all pertinent information included. those files are updated annually and are kept locked up in case of emergency. a spare copy is left with another member of our family as well. my father-in-law had something similar though not in as much detail as what my husband has. it helped tremendously as we went through his files and attempted to secure funds for my mother-in-law and get her a budget of what she would have coming in and going out each month. do this for your loved ones. i cannot tell you how valuable it is. beyond just the facts, write down the whys. why did you pick that account? what are the benefits? answer questions someone might be asking. it makes a horrible situation just a little bit more tolerable.

write letters

i can remember my sweet friend as she was dying of cancer. she left one weekend to go away by herself and write letters to her daughter, for her wedding day, for her graduation from high school, for her 16th birthday, for all the days she was going to miss. i can't imagine what writing those letters cost her. i also can't imagine how precious those letters will be for her daughter as she grows up and reads them. i'm not suggesting you do this exact thing...but take time to write letters to your loved ones. my husband tries to write a letter to each child on their birthday. one day he will give them the whole stack. in the meantime, he is collecting sweet letters to his kids. it's precious and meaningful and, when someone dies suddenly, sweet mementos like this mean everything. write some love letters to those you love.

get in the picture

take pictures...with your kids, with your family, with your spouse. get out from behind the camera and jump in with those you love. frame pictures of yourself that you love. we had two very different experiences with my husband's family. his brother's funeral had a picture of his brother that we knew his brother disliked. he complained about that picture and how he never liked how he looked in it. still, it was the only picture we had to use for his funeral and so we used it. we always felt bad about that. with my father-in-law, we had a great picture to use. my husband's father was smiling and happy and looked like he could walk right out of the print. it was perfect. make sure there's a picture of you somewhere that you love.

most of all...just love and live well

if the deaths in our families have taught us anything, it's that nothing is guaranteed. none of us know the day or the time we will leave this earth. whenever it is, i want my kids to know how much i love them. i want my husband to know he means the world to me. i want the people around me to know they are precious to me. that's the important thing. everything else is secondary. we could all use a reminder to simply love people well...no matter how long we are on this earth. everything else that falls into the business of dying is wrapped up in this. love people enough to help them walk through something if you can't be there in person to do it. walk them through it beforehand. there is so much love in that.

monthly must haves: rainy day

we've been having some rainy weather off & on lately. i'm not one for rain, unless it means i'm snuggled up indoors by the fire. here is some happy rainy day goodness to make the gloomy days brighter (obsessed with the rain boots!!)

52 series: rainy day activities

hunter womens's original tall welly boot

kids kamik raindrops rain boot

roma kids' ilona rain boot

world of eric carle, umbrella

storm is coming!

the storm book

fun finds: glass half full

i feel like 2016 was rough for many, many people. i think we could all use a fresh start and a little inspiration in our lives. these fun finds made our day a little brighter. may they brighten your day and your walls as well. cheers to a better 2017!

glass half full vinyl

glass half full print

i'll just be happy

be happy mug

good day to be happy pillow

happy life pillow

hope clock

hope whispers vinyl

what attending a pet-expo taught us about giving back

this post is sponsored by rachael ray's nutrish. all thoughts and opinions are our own. 

girl weekends are the best. when we get to see each other, there really is nothing better. this weekend we got to spend three glorious days together in san diego and pomona, enjoying each other's company and visiting the pet-expo in pomona. 

while we went from booth to booth, we saw our fair share of really bizarre pet accessories. this unitard to keep dogs from shedding was our personal favorite.  

the scary stuffed pet that turns into an evil pet at the touch of a button was a close second. i'm not sure who buys these fine items but we could only laugh and how crazy they seemed to us. 

what we did absolutely loved at this convention, besides the cute cat items and the time we got to spend together was the emphasis that was placed on shelter pet adoption. 

we love shelter animals and we are both adoptive shelter cat parents. we love adopting from animal shelters or the humane society and giving pets in need a home. 

while the shelters and the organizations involved in the pet-expo this weekend were all local to the los angeles area, (and no, we didn't come home with more cats) we were inspired to find ways to get involved with rescue animals right where we live. 

we are already involved in the simplest of ways just by purchasing food for our cats. our cats love nutish cat food and have been enjoying it for years now. we won't buy anything else for our cats. what makes us feel truly great about our cat food decision is that rachael ray donates a portion of the proceeds of nutrish pet food to rachael's rescue, which was created to help shelter animals in need. through december of 2016, over $17.5MM has been donated. this money had gone toward food, medical supplies and treatments for those unfortunate animals. 

humane societies and animal shelters are often looking for help. we love the idea of taking some time to invest in animals in need. we know we cannot adopt more animals at this time but that doesn't stop us from wanting to get involved in their care and helping animals find their forever homes. 

shelters also take donations of various kinds. our local shelters list items they need on their local websites. used blankets, food, laundry detergent and other items are always in high demand. check your local animal shelter websites and find ways you can donate items they need. 

most importantly, if you are looking for a new pet, search your local animal shelters and give love to a pet in need. we have received so much joy from our animals in our homes and we truly can't imagine life without them. adopting a pet from a shelter not only gives you the love of an amazing animal but it also rescue's a pet from impossibly sad circumstances. 

connect with rachael ray and nutrish pet food at:

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nutrish
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nutrish
twitter: twitter.com/nutrish
www.nutrish.com

SaveSave

the best reusable shopping bags. ever.

i have tried to make the effort to use reusable shopping bags when on my weekly target or grocery store runs......but i wasn't always successful. i usually ended up forgetting them in the car or leaving them at home.....even if i remembered them i never had bags that worked well (too flimsy, etc.) 

recently in california bringing your own bags has become mandatory, which i love. i now need to remember my bags and since i recently found the most amazing bags *ever* i actually look forward to bringing them. no joke, i get comments every time i use these bags from people asking me where to get them for themselves. these bags fold up easily, are a cinch to fill up at checkout and load into the car. obsessed is an understatement. 

i am head-over-heals in love with these bags. give them a try.....pretty sure you will end up in a committed reusable bag relationship, too. 

always thankful

this post is sponsored by the lovely people at nutrish. the thoughts and opinions are our own.

today is a day we sit back and actually take stock of our lives. we gather together and, even if just for a few moments, we list all those things we are thankful for. this year has been a difficult one for heather and i but as we focus on having an attitude of gratitude, it becomes more and more easy to remember just how good our lives are. 

so, today, before the turkey and stuffing, before the football and parades, we wanted to take a moment to share the things we are thankful for.

we are thankful for family

this one is at the top of both of our lists. how can we even imagine life without all of our wild and crazy kids surrounding us? we cannot. i'm blessed with an amazing husband, five pretty hilarious kids and a life that is never boring. it's pretty fantastic.

we are thankful for friends

one summer school class long ago, heather and i met and laughed over a lecture on teaching art to children. our lives have never been the same. here we are 20+ years later and the laughs continue. i can't imagine my life without her and there are countless other friendship stories that each of us have. our friends have often become family to us and we are so very grateful. 

we are thankful for pets

i once swore that i would never have pets while i had small children. i couldn't imagine having another creature to take care of. i'm so glad i gave in and got our sweet kitties. i know heather feels the same with her adorable lola. just when days are getting difficult, one of the cats will do something to make me laugh or will come up to cuddle. they are sometimes just what i need to brighten my day and i can't imagine the hole that would be in my life and the life of my kids without them. they are little furry balls of joy.

we are thankful for health

both us of have had some weird health things come up this year. still, as we look back on our lives and the lives of our families, we are so very blessed. so many people walk through incredible illnesses and our hearts go out to them. we don't take our health for granted and we are so very thankful for each and every day we spend without the worries of illnesses in our families.

we are thankful for provision

heather and i have both traveled the world and have seen great poverty around the world. make no mistake, we are privileged people. each month we have money to pay for our homes and our food. our children have great education. we have clothes on our back and transportation to get us where we need to go. we are not wanting for our basic needs and we are aware that so many in the world don't have these luxuries. today and everyday we strive to be more grateful for the fact that our needs are met.

we are thankful for work

this blog has been a blessing for the last five years. we have laughed through it, learned through it and maintained a friendship and called it a business. through the ups and downs, it has brought us closer together and has brought us joy. we also get to work with amazing friends and companies. not only do companies partner with us, but we are able to build relationships with the people we meet along the way as well. we are so grateful for what blogging has brought us and the friendships we have made and maintained along the way. the lovely people at nutrish have been in a partnership with us for the last three years. we have laughed with them, traveled with them and they represent so much more than a company to us. they are friends we get to work with. what a joy that is. 

we are thankful for you

when we started blogging five years ago, we thought we would write some things down and our mothers would occasionally read what we wrote. boy were we surprised to find out that there were people who found us interesting. we have giggled as we've watched people reading our blog from various parts of the world (we are pretty sure they just googled "boob") and we have been amazed to see that people have appreciated our hearts and our stories. thanks for sticking with us and for laughing with us. thanks for crying with us when we walk through heartbreak and for cheering for us when we need encouragement. we are thankful for you.

we are thankful for another day to enjoy it all

today we get to wake up and spend the day with those we love. we get to enjoy good food and laughter. we get to live another day knowing how blessed we are. that alone is good news. we aren't going to take today for granted. today and everyday we are beyond fortunate, beyond blessed and exponentially grateful. our job now is to take that gratitude and remember to cultivate it the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. when we do that, we will get to remember each and every day just how much there is to be thankful for. 

we love working with rachael ray's pet food company, nutrish. if you haven't tried her pet food, give it a try. we cannot say enough good things about it. rachael ray's pet food is made from simple, natural ingredients that your pet needs for a complete and balanced diet. all nutrish pet food is available where you purchase your family's groceries which makes shopping easier. we love the health benefits it gives our pets, the convenience of the shopping and the way that rachael ray gives back. 

one of our favorite things about nutrish is that a portion of nutrish proceeds go to rachael's rescue, which was created to help animals in need. to date, over $14 million has been donated. this money has gone toward food, medical supplies and treatment for these unfortunate animals. we love that in some small way, when we care for our pets through nutrish pet food, other animals are being cared for as well. 

please follow nutrish at: 

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NutrishforCats

instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nutrish/

twitter: https://twitter.com/nutrish

pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nutrishforpets/

fall allergy survival guide

this post is sponsored by the lovely people of cvs minute clinic. as always, all thoughts and opinions are our own.

it's that time of the year. each fall, right as school is getting into full swing, it starts up again. my kids come home with itchy, watery eyes. they start to sneeze and cough. their asthma kicks in and they start wheezing and coughing some more. it seems like a never ending cycle and we face it every year at this time. 

my kids have seasonal allergies. five out of five kids come home in the fall with snotty noses and wheezy coughs. ragweed and dust does us in each and every fall and it seems to take an army of medication and precautions to get them back on the healthy road again. 

this year we are determined to be proactive and try to keep our kids in school and out of the doctor's office. in years past, their allergies have led to ear infections, sinus infections, bronchitis and other horrible sicknesses that can follow sinus congestion. we are trying to avoid all of those this year so are taking actions to prevent the congestion in the first place. 

first, it is important for us to know the difference between a cold or the flu and allergies. allergies are a body's hyper-sensitivity to substances in the environment. allergies are long lasting. while a cold usually will clear up after 7-10 days, allergies can last for months (as seen by my five kiddos). if you have a fever, it's not allergies, it's a cold or the flu. aches and pains...that's also a sign of the flu. if you have consistent itchy eyes, nasal congestion, sneezing and have symptoms that occur as soon as you come in contact with an allergen, it is probably allergies. the best way to treat allergies is to avoid them in the first place. 

here are five things that we do as a family to keep allergies and their symptoms at a minimum.

create a health plan with a nurse practitioner

every fall, we stop in to our cvs minute clinic to meet with a nurse practitioner to develop a family allergy action plan. we get all the medications we need filled for our kiddos and we get any and every new tip we can get for allergy prevention. we are fortunate enough to have two minute clinics in the same parking lot, literally two miles from my house. one is inside target and the other inside a cvs store. both are fantastic and i can even make online reservations for an appointment and can show up ten minutes before my appointment time completely checked in. it's fantastic and so convenient. i don't like to pull my kids out of school so i can even do all of their appointments on a saturday morning. we are in and out in no time and they don't have to miss any school assignments. on top of getting their prescription allergy medicine filled, we also get some great tips on allergy prevention. the nurse practitioners have given us all of the following tips to keep our kids healthy in the fall. 

clean, clean, clean

this is, arguably, my least favorite thing about fall allergy season. i have to be very diligent about keeping my house clean. as lovely fall breezes kick up, so do allergens. as kids run in and out of my house in the lovely, cooler weather, they bring in all sorts of allergens that can affect them for months. as my kids are allergic to dust, dusting and vacuuming is increasingly important over the fall months. these responsibilities are passed on to my children and they have to take part in the allergy prevention. we also are pretty diligent about vacuuming and mopping our hardwood floors as well. dirty or dusty floors can reek havoc on allergy symptoms so the best way to combat it is to keep things as clean as possible.

wash their clothes

i don't like doing more laundry than i have to and i am definitely not apposed to wearing jeans more than one day, especially for my kiddos. i do, however, have to make sure that in the fall, they don't wear sweatshirts and t-shirts repeatedly. those articles of clothing are right next to their little faces and, while they are enjoying the beautiful weather outdoors, they are also collecting allergens. the only way to get rid of those allergens is to wash their sweatshirts and t-shirts. i have to wash them more than i would like but it does make a huge difference in how my kids feel.

wash bedding frequently

this is another thing i would like to avoid but i have to force myself to do it often, especially in allergy season. bedding is a breeding ground for dust mites and dust just loves to fill up every nook and cranny. add to that the ragweed that comes into our house during the fall and it can be a disaster for my kids as they breath during the night time. i have to be extra diligent to wash bedding at least on a weekly basis.

keep windows closed

this one kills me. i feel like i wait all summer long for fresh air but i have to remember that open windows means all of the outside is free to come inside. this is really bad news for my allergic kiddos. i have to keep the windows closed and run the AC or the heater if i want the air circulating.

change air filters

this really needs to be done every season but it is especially true for us in the fall. we have to have our air filters clean so the air that is circulating is as clean as possible. some people also invest in hepa filters. we used to have one when our kids were toddlers and they worked wonders but as our kids have grown and their allergies and asthma have been better controlled, we have been able to cut back on the hepa filter use. with or without a hepa filter, keep air filters in the house clean during this season.

wash hands and face each time you come in from outdoors

this one is hard for my little boys to remember but they are getting used to it. each day after outdoor play, they have to come in and wash their hands and their faces. this simple activity removes a big portion of the ragweed from their bodies before they keep playing in the house. it has made a huge difference in how they feel throughout the day. they also have to shower and wash their hair every night. my kids play outside all afternoon. if they come in covered in ragweed pollen and do not shower, they will be breathing that pollen all night long. when that happens, the pollen also spreads to their bedding and they can keep coming in contact with it again and again. showering and washing out the pollen is very important each and every night. 

stay diligent with medications

my kids take their allergy medicines every single day. even when their allergies seem under control, we still have them take their medicines. we use it as prevention and we can tell from one day to the next if they have forgotten a day of medicine. this goes for their over the counter allergy medicine, their nasal sprays, their inhalers and their prescription allergy medicines. they have it all and they are religious about using it every day. when we miss, we tend to get really bad, really fast. that's just something we are not willing to deal with this year so we are taking care of our kids daily to make sure we don't get to that point. 

that's it. it may seem daunting but each day i stay diligent is a day my kids can function allergy and sickness free. that is a huge win in my book. how about you? how do you combat allergy season for your kiddos? we can't wait to hear.