****This post was created in partnership with Texas Department of State Health Services, however, all opinions are my own****

Raise your hand if you’re reading this post while your kid is practicing their fast pitch or backstroke?!

We are a family of 2 tweens and 1 teen, meaning we are at outdoor activities a lot!!!

And that means we are often times hanging out with the mosquitoes as well. Texas has a pretty long mosquito season and our active family is right out in the middle of it.

Mosquito bites are more than just an uncomfortable annoyance. One of my sons has a bit of an allergic reaction to bites and gets extremely red and swollen skin when he is bitten.

As if that were not enough, mosquitoes spread dangerous viruses such as the Zika virus, West Nile virus, and the Chikugunya virus. These viruses can cause permanent damage to your loved ones or worse.

Our best bet is to prevent mosquito bites and reproduction by declaring WAR on mosquitoes! And the WAR strategy is simple!

Wear long sleeves, pants, and long socks.

Apply an EPA approved repellent

Remove standing water

My son who gets an allergic reaction to mosquito bites? He wears pants and hoodies pretty much year-long, with the exception being at the pool (still wears a long sleeve rash guard). I once asked him about this a year or so ago and he straight up told me, “Because I hate getting mosquito bites!”

We always have insect repellent on hand. Baseball practice, camping, playing outside in the backyard while we have a cookout; you better believe we are sprayed up!  Unfortunately, sometimes mosquitoes even make it into the house. Using a mosquito window screen can help keep mosquitoes out of the house. You can never be too careful with mosquitoes.

I try to make a point to scan our front and backyard for standing water so we can dump it and lessen the amount of breeding mosquitoes. What a great idea it would be to scan you park, course, track area and remove any standing water you can easily handle. Then you are helping out so many others as well!!

For more helpful information on how you can #DeclareWarOnMosquitoes you can visit TexasMosquitoes.org

How do you keep your family safe from mosquitoes?