Dr. Alanna Levine is the mother of two young children and a pediatrician at Orangetown Pediatric Associates in New York. She has partnered with Clorox this holiday season to educate parents on how to keep their children healthy this time of year.

Kids showered and dressed. Check. Dinner in the oven. Check. Fire burning. Check. And that’s just a fraction of the things I have on my to-do list before our holiday guests arrive. The holidays bring plenty of gift wrapping, decorating, baking and entertaining, which means our household is about to become even more bustling (and messy) than usual…a scary thought for a working mother of two!

With so many things to juggle, knowing when and how to tackle all of the messes in the house can seem daunting, whether it’s spilled hot cocoa or germs that hit surfaces from that contagious cough. Disinfecting to help kill germs is especially important with all of the people in and out of the home this time of year.

I find that many parents don’t know the difference between cleaning and disinfecting.  To make things easier, I use the following guidelines to tackle cleaning up everything from visible cookie crumbs to invisible viruses and bacteria:

• Cleaners, like soap and water, remove dirt and debris. If my son drops the gingerbread house he made at school on the living room floor, I would use soap and water to clean it up. While the icing can cause a sticky mess, this spill isn’t likely to contain bacteria and viruses.


• EPA-registered disinfectants* help kill viruses, bacteria and fungi. Winter break brings lots of playdates. With so many little ones suffering from the sniffles spending time at our house, germs are bound to spread from my daughter’s dollhouse to the remote control and beyond. To help reduce the spread of viruses that can cause cold and flu and help keep your home healthier, I disinfect frequently touched hard surfaces around the house with an EPA-registered disinfectant, like Clorox^® Disinfecting Wipes.

 I also teach my patients to cover their coughs and sneezes, wash their hands frequently-especially before eating, and to be sure to get a flu vaccine every year!

 What tips do you have for tackling those holiday messes?

 Happy Holidays!

Dr. Alanna Levine

 *Use as directed on non-porous hard surfaces