None of the myriad of parenting books says, “Warning: small children make excellent germ transportation vehicles. Be prepared to be sick for the next ten years ...”
I used to dread wintertime. With my pre-schooler in childcare, winter only meant endless colds and flus. My generous daughter brought home all sorts of germs and then proceeded to “share” them with the entire family.
At first, I was resigned to be ill. How could you teach a small child not to spread germs? Young kids touch everything and get every germ on the planet and then when they are sick, cough and sneeze everywhere and infect everything in their path.
One year, after weathering seven colds and sinus infections that were passed through the house from my adorable daughter, I came upon the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) recommendation to teach kids to cough and sneeze into their elbow.
What? Elbow, not hands? Weren’t we taught to cover our coughs with our hands? Where the heck have I been that I missed this new recommendation to use our elbows? After the shock wore off, I realized, okay, this makes sense. Unlike a tissue, the elbow is always there. Unlike like their hands, the elbow doesn’t touch everything. I tried touching everything with my elbow. It is hard to do! Aha, the light bulb went off.
From that moment on, I was a mom on a mission. I was going to teach my three-year-old to use her elbow. Have you tried it? Asking a child to cough and sneeze into their elbow is like asking them to eat Brussels sprouts—not fun, easy, or fruitful.
So I searched the internet, I talked to people, I looked for a solution—nothing. Finally, I realized I would have to invent it myself.
It had to be fun. It had to make this invisible thing—germs—easy to understand for a preschooler. A character, like her cartoon friends. Germy Wormy was born. Germy Wormy’s favorite food is germs and he is sooo hungry. Germy Wormy asks all kids, “May I please have your germs?”
