Mr. Happy

Recently my two preschool-aged grandchildren were visiting and both were dealing with coughs. In an attempt to contain the germs, I was trying to encourage them to aim their coughs into their elbows. They are way too young to understand that covering a cough with a hand does nothing but spread more germs with everything that they touch. It occurred to me that perhaps they needed a visual. Voila! Sharpee marker and Mr. Happy to the rescue. Both of them responded positively for the rest of the morning, coughing into their Mr. Happy marks and correcting each other when procedure was not followed. One of them, however, did end up in Vanderbilt ER because his situation was accelerating. While being examined, the attending physician asked the little guy about the mark on his arm. My grandson promptly responded, "That's Mr. Happy. That's where I cough." The physician remarked very positively about the visual, so I am passing along the information to you during this intense flu season.