Last year we had spring, summer, and then where we expected to have fall and winter we just had Sick season. It was ugly. We were a revolving door of germs. The only one who was not sick was Boohoo. I’ve actually heard this is pretty common in internationally adopted children/kids with attachment issues. I think it’s a combination of her willing herself not to be sick and a Hulk-size immune system. There was a 24 hour period where I believe that she felt mildly unwell, but seriously, the rest of us were “uggh, blah, ahhh” for five months. We were pretty much quarantined from November to February.
Andrew and I are not usually sick (excluding headaches) except maybe twice a year. Last Sick Season we were just as junked-up as the kids. Peanut is usually pretty healthy and shakes things off quickly. Before last fall there was only one time that Peanut was really sick and there was that one time that he had an ear infection. Pickle…Pickle manages to find every germ in a ten block radius and bring it home to play.
So far early in the season Peanut had a 24 hour puking bug. He’s the most cheerful puker ever though so it’s pretty easy to deal with. Pickle has had an upper respiratory germ that is hanging on, of course. I am anxious not to repeat that this year.
I believe a huge portion of the blame last year was stress. Our bodies can only fight on so many levels at once. My plan of attack this year is two-fold: Attack Germs & Dismantle Stress. Here’s what it’s going to look like:
1. Vitamins. The kids are taking fish oil, a multivitamin, probiotics and vitamin C. I will probably add vitamin D in the winter as well. I take fish oil, vitamin C, probiotics, and a B vitamin complex.
2. Fresh Air. I am trying to get the kids outside for a “morning constitutional” at least 4-5 days a week. I also want to take them outside to play after naps/pre-dinner 4-5 days a week. (This gets complicated because we don’t have a fenced yard and so everyone has to go and there has to be an adult out there too and it would just be easier to be able to have a safe place for them to play a bit more independently)
3. Exercise. For all of us this includes a morning walk and for the kids it includes their outside playtime too. I do want to try and get them out to a park/field once or twice a week so that they have space to move and run. (The backyard area we do have is small, there’s a little grass, but it’s mostly an alley…) For me, I’ve got to be more intentional about getting exercise. Andrew is very supportive of this, I’ve just got to do it. The very stress that makes me need the exercise makes it hard for me to follow-thru with it.
4. Sleep. I’m pretty much a Sleep Fanatic when it comes to my kids. Early bedtimes. Mandatory naptime and quiet time. There’s some tweaking that needs to happen here because the kids are getting older, but it’s still a huge priority. I do a *decent* job of getting enough sleep for myself. Better than some people in this marriage, ANDREW!!! But, I could definitely be more consistent with myself.
5. Isolation. Haha. This isn’t something that I often get to aim for as a mother, but as the kids do get a bit older I want to try and start keeping them away from each other when they’re sick as a way to prevent the germ ping-pong.
6. Hand-washing Campaign. I’m going to go through our resources (and buy some new ones! More on those later.) and teach the kids more “thoroughly” about germs and hand-washing, etc. I’m more optimistic about keeping sneezes covered, noses wiped on TISSUES, and hands washed with soap and out of mouths than I was this year.
7. Natural Treatments. I’m eager to hear what kind of natural treatments you guys use and recommend. Recommend, please! I use honey for sore throats and coughs, sitting in a steamy bathroom/cold mist vaporizers for congestion and coughs for the kiddos (and maybe an OTC if they’re having trouble sleeping). For myself, there’s a brand of herbal teas that I swear by and when combined with zinc lozenges (and maybe OTC if I’m having trouble functioning because mama don’t get sick days) . But I know that some of you use eye of newt and frog spleen extract oil to treat common colds and sickness and I want to know about them!
Tell me what works for your family to keep you’s (that’s a bit of my Italian grandma slipping through there) healthy and get you back to healthy if you’re sick.
