Why it is important to teach your children proper hand washing

I want to start this post by saying, my family is a clean family. I am obsessive about hand washing and hand sanitizer and cleanliness in general! For this reason I was very surprised today when I took Maddie to the doctor because she has been sick on and off for a couple of weeks. It all started one night with a fever of 101.1, which was 101.8 by the next morning. The doctor told me that as long as Motrin or Tylenol was breaking it and causing it to go down then she was okay. A few days after the fever she developed a hive like rash on her hands, feet and her nether regions...concerned once again I called the doctor and was told it probably was something viral and not to worry and to give her Benadryl. Then this weekend we had the green snot issue, always a concern and ear pulling. I hate jumping the gun and running to the doctor, but after over 2 hours of inconsolable crying this morning I broke down and took her and come to find out she has an ear infection. So where does the hand washing come in you ask? Well, I also found out that she has had, hand, foot and mouth disease. It is viral, so there isn't any medication to cure it and it goes away on its own, but it is spread from improper hand washing. A shock to me to say the very least. She must have picked it up off of a shopping cart or something like that and I can assure you I will be more vigilant in sanitizing the entire cart, the girls hands prior to going into a store and post trip, as well as ensuring we practice proper hand washing as soon as we walk in the door, before and after meals and if they for some reason don't have a bath before bed, hand washing before bed as well. So help keep yourself and your child safe and always wash your hands!