Tag / thermometer

by Kelly Mattei

Safety/Wellness Items I Have Ordered for My College Daughter

Safety/wellness items I have ordered for my college daughter.

As parents, we never stop worrying, do we? Our daughter is a junior in college. A few weeks ago, she fell ill…mono/pneumonia/bronchitis. It was scary when I could hear deep wheezing through the phone, so I jumped on a plane and went down there. She is living in an apartment with three friends, but I was surprised they didn’t have some of the basics for illness/wellness and safety. I’m sharing, so you can double-check that your college student has the necessities if he/she gets sick. Here are some items I ordered or picked up for them while I was there:

  • Thermometer. I swear my daughter had one in her medicine box when she went to school, but it wasn’t there anymore, and none of the roommates could come up with one either. This is an absolute essential. In fact, go ahead and get two of them, because you know one will go missing.There are lots of them out there, but get the one I got from Amazon here. *Also, make sure they have the meds they need if they do get sick: acetaminophen, ibuprofen, cough and cold meds, etc.
  • COVID/Flu Home Test. Y’all, I had the flu in January. I feel pretty sure I acquired it standing in line at Customs when I came home from Mexico City. When I started feeling badly, I thought, “I guess I’ll be going to a germ infested doctor’s office tomorrow to get tested for flu.” But then I checked to see if there is a test on Amazon. There is, and it was delivered to my home overnight. With one sample, it tests for COVID, Flu A, and Flu B. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS ITEM! Soon after receiving the test, I knew I had Flu A. After that, I knew I wanted to keep those tests on hand during flu season at my house. I also got one for our daughter at her college house. If she tests positive for flu A or B, she can call her doctor or an online doctor and get Tamiflu. ***Also, encourage your child to get a flu shot!*** Purchase the test here. (While you’re thinking about it, go ahead and order one or two for home…you’ll thank me this flu season if someone gets sick.)
  • Cold Mist Humidifier. As soon as my daughter was diagnosed with pneumonia, I knew she needed a humidifier. When I mentioned it, she said, “The doctor recommended it too.” I actually ordered one at a local drugstore for her to pick up, even though she was sick, just so she could have it quickly. This is one of those things we should just have anyway. Order one at Amazon here.
  • Pedialyte. A proven brand for replacing electrolytes and staying hydrated, Pedialyte makes powder packets that you mix with water. Powder mixes are easier to store than bulky bottles, and these last a long time. They’re good to have on hand for mono, pneumonia, flu, or even stomach issues. Get them from Amazon here.
  • Multivitamin. When I had mono as a teenager, the only things my old-school doctor recommended were lots of rest and a good multivitamin. These college students burn the candle at both ends. Get them a multivitamin, simply because you don’t really know what they’re eating or how much rest they are getting. Get a good one from Amazon here.
  • Ring Doorbell. While I was there, one of my daughter’s roommates mentioned that she would feel a lot safer if they had a Ring Doorbell, so you know I had to get one. I opted for the wireless one for easy installation. It’s not cheap, but it’s the lastest model and easy to install. Get it at Amazon here.
  • Window Alarms. Another safety feature? Window alarms. If your kids have a ground floor bedroom, they might feel safer with window alarms on the windows. For under $30, you get alarms for four windows. Get the ones I purchased here.
  • Portable Safe. I know, the words “portable” and “safe” don’t go together, but this one attached to a fixed item. She doesn’t have any real valuables, but she does have some small items that might walk away if someone didn’t ask to borrow them and forgot to return them. No, I don’t mean her roommates. I mean other people who visit. Sometimes, there are lots of people in their apartment. This safe attaches to the shelving in her closet and has a combination lock. Get it here.
  • She’s Birdie Personal Alarm. You’ve probably seen these before. Highly recommend. At about $30, it does offer a little peace of mind. Get it here.
  • Pepper Gel Spray. If you’re really concerned about safety, pepper gel spray can be a great thing to have. Instead of the old school liquid spray, this won’t blow back on the person spraying it. A friend told me about it over lunch yesterday when she was telling me a story about a guy walking into her daughter’s room! The guy was friends with someone else who lived there, but that’s not OK. Get the pepper gel spray here.***Just make sure they don’t try to board an airplane with it.***
  • Door Security Bar. After the Idaho murders, our daughter became more aware of real dangers. We have door security bars on all our exterior doors at home, but she wanted one for her bedroom door in her apartment. If your child lives somewhere that people might be in and out of the apartment or house at all hours, it could be a good idea to have one of these to secure the door. Get it here.

This list, obviously, is not a complete list of everything they need for health and wellness, but it’s a start! Don’t forget you can likely order groceries for them through Instacart! ***Also, remember to check/replace batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors! *** Do what you can for your child!

***I am an Amazon Associate, so I am compensate for items purchased through my links.***

by Kelly Mattei

Mom, I Feel Terrible

Mom, I feel terrible.

If you followed me last year, you know that in September, I received a call from my daughter, and the first words out of her mouth were, “Mom, we’ve been in an accident.” I was in the Bahamas, and she had flown home from college for the weekend. It was not the call I wanted to receive. Fortunately, everything turned out fine.

She is now in her sophomore year and has been back at school since August 2…about four weeks. She had to go back early to prepare for sorority rush for a week before actual rush the following week. In the middle of rush week, I received a late night phone call. When I picked up the phone, she immediately sad, “Mom, I feel terrible.” I could hear that she was trying to choke back tears, so I jumped out of bed and went to the loveseat in the keeping room off our kitchen, so I could talk with her without disturbing my husband. By the sound of her voice, I knew she really felt terrible.

It broke my heart. If you’re a mom who has ever had to deal with a sick child far away, you get it. It’s absolutely heartbreaking to hear your tearful child telling you had badly she feels. I looked at the clock: 12:35am. And I started asking questions. “What’s wrong? Is it your stomach? Where does it hurt? Do you have fever?” You know…all the questions you ask when you are a mom. I seriously considered just getting in the car and going down to her university 450 miles away, but I had taken some sleep meds, so that wasn’t an option. It might have been an overreaction if I had done it, too.

She explained that she was experiencing nausea and chills. First, I needed to make sure it wasn’t appendicitis. I asked if she had pain in her lower abdomen. No, just nausea. I told her to lie on her left side and extend/flex her right hip. No pain. I told her to stand up for just a minute and jump up and down. No pain. Since I felt pretty sure it wasn’t appendicitis, I recommended she take some nausea meds. I asked, “Can you check your temperature before you do that, though?” “I don’t have a thermometer.” What?!?!?!?! I know I sent one last year, and I thought it was still in her medicine box, but I guess not. Note to self: send the girl a thermometer.

She was sick for a few hours…like really sick. I went back to my bed to grab my pillow and a blanket to take to the sofa and kept her company over the phone while she sat in the bathroom floor. Poor baby. It is so hard to know your child is sick so far away! She finally went back to bed and fell asleep at about 4:00am. I encouraged her to sleep most of the next day, even though she would miss one day of rush festivities. She was exhausted and did not argue with me. No one else living with her ever got it, so maybe it was foodborne? (When she felt better, I talked with her about making sure food is cooked properly…and how, in a restaurant, if the food isn’t really hot, don’t eat it.) We will likely never know, but I do know I need to make sure her medicine box has everything she needs! Wondering what that might be? Here are some suggestions:

  • Thermometer. Honestly, I always knew mercury thermometers were accurate, but we can’t get them anymore. I don’t always trust a digital thermometer, but to see the one I trust most, click here.
  • Band-Aids. I prefer actual Band-Aid brand. I like to have some blister Band-Aids and some flexible fabric ones. See a variety here.
  • Tylenol and Motrin. They need both. Tylenol is good for fever and headaches. Motrin is great for body aches and inflammation.
  • Flonase.This is my go-to when we have sniffles or cold symptoms. It doesn’t make me sleepy like some cold meds, but you can take it in conjunction with your preferred cough and cold meds. Order here.
  • Benadryl tablets. If your college student thinks he/she is having a mild allergic reaction, Benadryl can halt the reaction. Get tablets here.
  • Benadryl cream or spray. Insect bites? We use Benadryl cream and/or spray for wasp stings, bee stings, ant bites, even mosquito bites. Get cream here and spray here.
  • OFF insect repellent. Two people in Alabama died recently from Equine Encephalitis. Since our daughter is in college there, I sent her some OFF! Spray and told her to use it. Get it here. I will be taking some in a spritz bottle with me when I vacation in Panama in October. Get the spritz bottle here.
  • Tums and Pepto-Bismol. Get Tums here. Get Pepto here.
  • Cough and Cold Meds. Since everyone seems to have their own preferences on this, I’m not going to recommend a certain brand. Just make sure your college students has some cough and cold meds on hand.
  • Alcohol wipes. Get them here.

Basically, you want to make sure they have anything they might need. And yes, a thermometer is one of those important things…duh!

I hope you don’t ever receive one of those middle-of-the-night calls.

by Kelly Mattei

A Little Fever Won’t Keep Me Down

What is it about vacation that brings on sickness? I don’t mean getting sick on vacation; I mean getting sick right before vacation. It always happens to me. Always happens to me.

Tomorrow morning at 10:00, I’m getting on a flight to Los Angeles. Come Hell or high water, I’m getting on that plane. But for the past few days, I’ve noticed I’ve been “trying” to get sick. A few nights ago, I woke up in the middle of the night, and I couldn’t breathe through my nose. A little tissue and some Afrin helped that night. Same for the next night. Then yesterday, I woke up with a slight sore throat, and as the day progressed, my ears started to hurt. Ugh.

Today, I woke up feeling about the same, but after having an early birthday lunch with friends and a quick trip to Target, I realized I was feeling a little worse. I found a thermometer in my house, which is not an easy thing to do, because my daughter and husband tend to misplace them, but this time, it was exactly where it should have been…in the kitchen drawer. Doesn’t everyone have one of those kitchen drawers? It has paper clips, safety pins, tape, and yes…it’s supposed to have at least one thermometer. And this time I was especially lucky…the thermometer was there, and the battery in it wasn’t even dead! So I checked my temperature, and just as I suspected, I had a low-grade fever, which I probably still have, because I haven’t taken any medication yet. I’ve been staying hydrated, but waiting to take meds.

The fact that I haven’t taken meds stresses out my husband. “Have you taken anything yet?” “When are you going to take something?” I promise, I’m not sitting around complaining. He just sees me sitting in my bathrobe and remembers I’m not feeling well. I explained to him that I wanted to keep the fever for a little while to give it the opportunity to fight the germ I have. He thinks I’m nuts. Well, he always thinks I’m nuts, but he even gave me one of those “you’re nuts” looks. So right now, I’m taking an Advil Cold & Sinus tablet, because I need to feel well enough to get packed for my trip tomorrow. I’m giving it about 45 minutes to start working, and then I will get busy packing.

Tonight, I’ll take some NyQuil, you know, the “night time, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so you can rest” medicine. I know it won’t cure me, but it usually does what the old commercials said it would do.

And tomorrow, I’ll get on that plane. Oh, I’m going. I’ve been looking forward to my friend’s “big, African wedding” for months (she is from Nigeria!), and there is no way I am going to miss it. Before you freak out and say I’ll be sharing germs with everyone on the flight, settle down. It’s a cold. I don’t have measles. I don’t have flu. I don’t have tuberculosis. It’s a common cold. The wedding isn’t till Monday, so by then, I should be good as new. Sure, it has me feeling pretty bad today, but I won’t let a cold keep me down. No sir…not gonna happen.

This is one of those many times I’m thankful we live in an airline hub city. Nonstop flights sure are easier than connections. I know…connecting is no big deal, but as my daughter pointed out after we cleared customs/immigration in Charlotte after a flight home from Mexico in March, “all those other people have another flight before they get home, and we get to go home now!” There’s something great about living in a hub city. Thank you, American Airlines, for being here. So tomorrow, I’ll get on that American Airlines plane and sleep as much as I can on the way to LA. We will get there, and just like always, I’ll hit the ground running.

I don’t have time to be sick. Did I mention Memorial Day is also my 52nd birthday and the bride’s birthday? Yep…she’s getting married on Monday on our birthdays. It should be a fabulous, memorable birthday. Happy Birthday to me!

And when I get home, my daughter will have three more days of final exams at school before SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SUMMER!