How Mosquito Prevention Helped My Kids Play Outside

This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com on behalf of Mosquito Joe.  I’ve received a form of compensation in exchange for this post; however all opinions, experiences, and bad puns are 100% my own.

Y’all may have noticed, I have two redheaded children, right?  What you may not know is all the fun little trivia facts that come along with being a ginger.  For example, worldwide, redheads make up only 2% of the population, while in Scotland they’re 13%, followed closely by Ireland at 10%.

Another little tidbit of trivia?  Redheads are more susceptible to bug bites.  In my kids case, they’re magnets for mosquitoes.  Not only are my kids apparently like a nice little dessert for mosquitoes, my daughter also has strong reactions to mosquito bites.  About half the time, a single bite will swell up on her.  The first time we saw this, she was about 3, and she had a bite on her tricep that swelled up the size of a golf ball.  That prompted a weekend trip to urgent care, where we started to learn about her reactions, and how to handle them with OTC allergy meds.  Once, she got a bite a few inches above her eye, and her entire forehead swelled up!

So, having ginger kids who swell up from mosquito bites -plus a big backyard filled with ivy- may sound like we either have to coat our kids in bug spray, particularly during the summer, if we want to play outdoors, right?  Well, sort of.  You see, bug sprays and various backyard bug repellents don’t always work, or we forget to put it on, or it wears off after being outside for a while.  We’ve also unsuccessfully tried those little bracelets that are supposed to ward them off, as well as the candles.  Each only have short-term success and certainly come with their own limitations.  Bottom line: none of these solutions by themself helped prevent the mosquitoes from snacking on my kids fair skin.

That’s where the good folks at Mosquito Joe come in.  You see, Mosquito Joe provides a mosquito prevention spray around your home, which lasts up to 21 days.  Recently, I had them come out and spray our yard for mosquito control.  As I mentioned, our backyard and the land behind us is nothing but ivy.  As you may know, ivy is a breeding ground for mosquitoes, so I wasn’t sure how they were going to address my large ivy-filled backyard.

The morning they arrived, I was greeted by friendly technicians, who first explained the process and then got right to work.  They started by blowing the mosquito prevention from these large blowers they carried that were like backpack leaf blowers, only they were filled with the special mosquito control spray.  They sprayed the perimeter of the entire yard.  They also looked for any places with standing water, and placed a special mosquito control agent on it to prevent new mosquitoes from forming.  This is key, since mosquitoes can breed in just the smallest drop of water.

Mosquito Joe’s service works because it breaks the life cycle of the mosquito, not just eliminating adult mosquitoes.  On average, your first spray will eliminate roughly 85% of the mosquitos treated.  The second spray will eliminate 90%, and the third spray will knock about about 95% of those pesky suckers.  (Pun fully intended.)  Mosquito Joe is so confident in their service, they offer a satisfaction guarantee.  When you have them come out, you’ll get an email survey to follow up, and if you’re satisfaction level is less than a 9, they’ll work to correct any issues.  Further, if mosquitoes return within 14 days, they’ll come back at at no charge for a touch-up service.

I’m so excited about this service, I’d like to offer y’all an opportunity to try out Mosquito Joe, with a coupon for $25 off your first spray.  Just use the code BUZZONLINE.  Once you’ve signed up with Mosquito Joe, let me know – I’d love to hear what you think of their service for mosquito control.

My kids love playing outside.  Being able to do a little front porch swinging in the evenings with a cold drink in hand, watching our kids play in the front yard with various outdoor toys or simply using their imaginations and each other, continues to be one of our all-time favorite summer things.  With Mosquito Joe’s mosquito control service, we can now sit back with peace of mind, knowing we will have fewer annoying little suckers buzzing around, which hopefully means fewer magical-filled evenings coming to an abrupt ending with a dose of allergy medicine, to boot.

So, go, try out Mosquito Joe and let me know what you think.  Don’t forget to use the code BUZZONLINE to save an extra $25 off your first spraying.