January and February. Blah. These two sister months can just be gone. Unless I lived in say, Hawaii, where it was never cold and there was never dry cold gross air that made my hair stand on end. That would be nice. And I also maintain that Hawaiians probably don't get sick like we do. All that fresh air just gets rid of all the germs right? There is probably a highly reputable science publication that would back up my ridiculous statement, yes?
But we don't live in Hawaii (yet) and while we also don't live in say, Maine (anymore), we still have our fair share of winter "issues." So here are some of our winter "survival" favorites to help get us through these two icky months...
1. Rocky Mountain Oils' Better Butter. David has always been a skin itcher. It gets especially bad in the winter obviously, with something Matt likes to call "winter's itch" like the true Central PA Dutchy fellow that he is. David's upper back is actually scarred from all the scratching and picking he's done throughout his four short years and it is awful and breaks my heart. If I stay on top of him with this stuff it does wonders though!
2. Chapstick. Say what you may about Chapstick and it's addictive qualities and I'll totally agree with you there.... but I'm happy in my addiction. I have one of these everywhere for my own personal use. I only put it on the kid's lips when I notice they are getting chapped from so much playground time.
3. Humidifier and Eucalyptus Oil. When the inevitable stuffy nose hits the house, which if I'm being honest here we have been plagued with since October, both of these are used nightly. I'll put a few drops of the oil in their tubby. Or in the floor of the shower and run the shower real hot for a bit to fill the bathroom with steam. Or I'll put a few drops on their pillows. Or I'll rub some diluted oil on their chests with a roller ball. Or I'll put a few drops in the reservoir on the humidifiers.... Or all of the above. We have three different humidifiers but the one I linked to is our favorite because it's totally silent and you can change the intensity of the mist.
4. Diffuser and Immune Strength. I have this thing going every day when the kids get home from school. All the germs and the ick that comes home with and on the kids man, I can't stand it. Diffusers are just awesome...You can make your entire home just smell so very good with out any of the chemicals that come with a candle! Not to mention fire hazards. I also use this Immunity roller ball that is all ready to go pre-made for kids!
5. Indoor plants.
Obviously I'm all about my winter green things lately but hey! They
freshen up a space and they clean and purify the air and let's just have
plants everywhere shall we? I'm such a big fan. Other benefits of
having indoor plants here.
6. Probiotics. These!!! Goodness. I tell everyone who has so much as a whiff of a stomach bug about these. My pediatrician recommended we start using probiotics when Dom was just a wee baby. You can use the adult capsules and empty them into the kid's water sippy cups. So per our doctor's recommendation that is just what we did. I've been looking into possibly using other brands (like this one) but so far Culturelle is the one we have been using. All five of us. Every single day. Keep that nasty stomach thing away from us please! More info about probiotics here.
So what about you? How do you survive these cold winter days?
