I'm sick and I'm mad about it. 

Its cold season up here in North-Eastern PA and already kids are keeling over.  Last Friday I noticed my own cold coming in hot. But lucky for me I came up with my own surefire regimen to kick this cold in the tuchus. 

• A cup of hot green tea, honey optional, at the most twice a day. I always drink it with a meal and not on an empty stomach- green tea without food has been known to cause nausea. 
• A cup of Echinacea tea before bed. My favorite is Sleepytime Echinacea Complete Care. 
• Zinc Tablets. The science on zinc for colds is still debated, but I find it cuts down the length of my colds. 
• Halls honey or cherry cough drops. Honey is good for a very sore throat but I found it leaves a bad aftertaste in my mouth so I prefer the cherry. 
• Carrying around my own box of tissues so the school's nasty ones done rub my nose raw. 
• Carrying  around a small bottle of lotion (or in my case a Dixie Cup)  to rub on my nose to help it if it is chapped. If lotion is hard to come by, chap-stick works too. 
•  I always have a hard time sleeping with a stuffy nose, and I in no way can sleep mouth breathing (drool everywhere) so I found taking medicine helps. I normally do not like be medicated when I do not have to be, but sleep is important. Nasal Sprays, NyQuil, or Mucinex work best for me. 
• Lots of rest. This one is a given but its really important. Many people do not take days off for colds, but doing this significantly cuts down their length.