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Right now, I’m on the plane back from San Francisco, coming home from the first leg of my book tour and excited to see my family for the first time in over a week. I also feel like I am on the verge of coming down with a cold.

I often find that when we are at our busiest, our bodies fight to stay healthy (I’ve felt like I’m on the verge of a cold for the past two weeks) and then the moment that we get somewhat of a rest, it all breaks down. Unfortunately, being healthy for those rests are often just as important as the more stressful times. Those are the moments where we have a weekend, we go on vacation or we get to spend quality time with our families.

Last year I worked with Dayquil on their “No Sick Days” campaign, which centered around the premise that even when parents come down with a cold, they are still on duty. We still have to wake up with our kids, make them breakfast, get them to school and do all the other things throughout the day, big and small, that keep a household running and everybody in it alive.

This year, Dayquil is continuing their “No Sick Days” campaign but instead of talking about all the things we still need to do for our kids when we’d rather be in bed, their emphasizing all the things we want to be able to do with our kids without something like a cold getting in the way.

Like going to Harlow’s first dance recital

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Taking Mazzy all dressed up in costume to her fall festival…

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or going on vacation with the whole family over the holidays…

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I’m also glad I didn’t miss Mazzy’s overnight at the Museum of Natural History…

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Harlow’s face at the Frozen Sing-a-long…

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And the first time I took Mazzy ice skating at Rockefeller Center…

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Right now we are in Wiles birthday season. Mike’s birthday is on October 22nd, Harlow’s birthday is on November 15th, my birthday is on November 24th and Mazzy’s is on December 9th.

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In between there is Halloween, then Thanksgiving, followed by Hanukah and don’t forget Christmas…

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There is no room to get sick this fall!

I’m also the kind of mom who doesn’t like to miss any special moment with my kids. When my mom told me she wanted to make tea reservations at American Girl for Mazzy, I told her that I had to come too. Ditto for Frozen on Ice, the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular and Harlow’s first trip to the circus.

I want to experience every first right along side them.

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At the end of every summer, we go to a street carnival in Southampton. It is one of Mazzy’s very favorite things to do and the number of rides she is able to go on increase each year. Her absolute favorite ride is the swings and I wouldn’t miss riding next to her for the world.

Her smile lights up that whole park.

A video posted by Ilana Wiles (@mommyshorts) on

Post a moment with your kids that you’re glad you didn’t miss on Instagram with the hashtag #nosickdayscontest and you’ll be eligible to win a $250 Visa gift card + a DayQuil and NyQuil prize package from Vicks. You can post a photo or a video, describing why you’re glad you got the chance to experience that moment in the caption. You must tag and follow @mommyshorts to win.

I’ll also be picking my favorite moments to feature in a blog post with one grand prize winner chosen at random on October 24th.

Good luck!