I usually say it because I'm thinking that we have a party this weekend and a show this weekend and I don't want to be sick for this field trip and I definitely don't want anyone to be sick for the holidays. I mean, I don't even want Madison to be carsick right now, because of everything we're trying to do.
But...do I want us to be sick in January? Cooped up in a house thick with germs, so we can pass illness around from person to person? Do I want the girls sick when competition dance season starts heating up and they have to be healthy? IS there a GOOD time to be sick?
No, of course there isn't. Being sick is no fun, having sick kids is no fun, and having a sick husband is definitely no fun.
Now, I'm not what anyone would consider crunchy. Compared to my homeschooling friends I'm downright...what's the polar opposite of crunchy...soggy? Silky? I mean, in the homeschool world, having chickens and baking bread seem like base requirements. Every mom with an infant seems to babywear and cloth diaper, most adhere to some level of plant based/whole food diet, and it's not out of the ordinary to find someone who doesn't vaccinate or even participate in "western medicine".
However, I've started incorporating a few "crunchy" ideals to keep us healthy over the winter.
- Natural Immunity Boosts: We use elderberry gummies and I sprinkle apple cider vinegar capsules into smoothies or on applesauce daily. I make a cinnamon and honey spread that tastes delicious and, supposedly, boosts immunity. When we start to feel those first signs of feeling sick, we amp it up with B6
- Oils: I'm not a crazy oil person. I don't sell them or buy them in bulk or pretend that they're just as good as medicine when you're actually sick. But we do diffuse a few oils in the humidifiers - tea tree and eucalyptus and an immunity blend, especially when it seems like we've been exposed to something.
- Water: I'm probably the worst in the family, but we've been trying to stay ultra hydrated and "peeing clear". I'm more of a seltzer or tea person, but the rest of them have daily water bottles that get refilled constantly. These water bottles are my favorite because they are so easy to clean and nowhere for mold to get trapped.
- Stop and Rest: This is where homeschooling helps, because we can rest. I can give the girls the morning off if they wake up feeling crummy. They have a warm drink, a lazy start, and by mid morning they're usually ok to do a bit of work. We can get all our school done, knock off by early afternoon, and rest again before the evening activities. When we're not pushing, pushing, rushing to school, going hard, powering through, we seem to stay pretty healthy.
