Alternative Health:Arnica Cream

A little over a year ago my mother-in-law brought home something called Arnica cream. She told us about a friend who used it often on a sprain and shoulder pain and that this woman swore by its beneficial properties. It stayed around our house for awhile before I finally tried it: not on myself but on Will. Being a toddling 18 month old he was bumping his skull into things like it was a religion. To the point where every time my phone rang, I winced a little, preparing for what must be the call from the CSA after receiving a disturbing report from my sons daycare. Poor lad. One day, right after yet another smack to Wills brow, my mother-in-law hurriedly grabbed the arnica cream and had me rub it into his growing red spot. It my surprise, not only did his cries subside quicker, but no bump and bruise ever surfaced. Ever. After this event I began using arnica every time he had an accident and nary did a bump occur. Occasionally we would miss rubbing the cream into the entire sore spot and thus there would be the tiniest odd-shaped bruise remaining in the spot. Wow, this really does work!

Now I thought it simply helped to ease inflammation until the day I had to use it on my own accident. After slamming the back of my head on a shelf (the kind of slam where one becomes a wounded dog, ready to kill anything that comes near it, and you find yourself saying all the swear words you know as loud as you can, even if your kid is standing right there), I waddled over to the drawer and frantically began rubbing the arnica all around my throbbing scalp. Immediately my extreme pain began to melt away, akin to pure aloe gel on a burn, or an epidural. The relief was euphoric.

I’ve told all of my friends with kids plus anyone who politely listens to my blathering about arnica. But seriously people, this stuff is as important to have your medicine cabinet as rubbing alcohol and bandages. Your children will unknowingly love you more for having it, I promise. So below is a little more info on what arnica is and where to get it.

It’s made from a pretty flower! What’s not to love people.

   Arnica cream comes from a planet called Arnica Montana, closely akin to the sunflower. It has been known to be used medicinally since the 15th century. The roots of the planet contain Thymol and arnica gel has been known to ease pain for sufferers of osteoporosis. It can even aide in inflammation of bug bites (mine greatest enemy). It comes in the form of a cream, gel and pellets. However, Arnica CAN BE LETHAL if ingested in too high a quantity so if you find yourself wanting to use the pellets you really should talk to a doctor first.

   Arnica homeopathic’s have become more main stream in the past few years (due, in part, to celebrity popularity) and have become fairly easy to find. It is carried in most natural food stores and sometimes you can find it in your pharmacy. If you don’t have a natural foods store nearby, you could request your pharmacy carry it, OR it is readily available online. You shouldn’t find it to be over the $10 range.

I love this stuff and it is becoming my staple “Happy 1st birthday!” gift. You are welcome parents! Just don’t let it sit in your cabinet and go bad. Once you try it you will be hooked.

Popsicle Adventures Continued

So about those fabulous popsicle puzzles I was talking about… I have a revisal. DO NOT USE MAGAZINES. Will ripped half of the paper off in five minutes. So stick with the greeting cards, postcards or photograph idea.

Continuing the popsicle crafting trend…

While we were visiting Will’s (hopefully, if we are declared poor enough and get financial aid) future montessori school I noticed all of the hands-on math exercises for the toddlers included the written numerals. We hadn’t even delved into this aspect of mathematics yet! We’ve only mastered the blinded repetition of “Oooonne, two, tree, frive (a combination of four and five), five siz, semin A-NYE-TEN!” and lately followed by a muttering of “memon, telf” (eleven and twelve).

So when Will was eating a bowl of cereal at 8:30 pm (I am such a sucker) I sat there handling popsicle sticks. We counted each up to “telf” then started going backwards. Then it dawned on me: Why not write the numerals on these? And while we’re at it, threw on something for him to count on each stick! Montessori schools are all about gradation learning-I remember seeing an awesome number game with dangling beads that the kids had to pair with the corresponding numeral.  So it all came together and was finished before my tot finished his cheerios. I picked a heart shape for mine.

I had a fabric marker handy, it didn’t bleed but also did not come off of Will’s hand after several scrubbings. You have been warned.

Popsicle Stick Puzzle in 3 Easy Steps!

I want to make more toys for Will. After touring his potential new home at Roots and Wings Montessori this week I was inspired by the hand-made interactive learning toys they created. The things you can do with a bath mat! Normally I pine for those beautiful, expensive toys you find at children’s boutiques. The Melissa and Dougs are one thing, but have you seen the Treehaus Play Kitchen?! Even at Tuesday Mornings it’s still $80!

Drool.

Alas, I am on a hand to mouth budget and must get creative. Poor people can be so crafty! And smart! AND funny!  So I found this easy and cheap craft to make for Will. It’s the Popsicle Puzzle! The great thing about this craft is that even 2 yrs old, he can participate in making it. POPSICLE PUZZLE Materials: Craft Popsicle sticks (you can find anywhere. I found mine at the drug store) Glue (liquid or stick) Siccors and Exacto Knife Magazine, Greeting Cards, or Photographs for Image

Step 1. Let your child select the image. (We used a magazine clipping, though thicker stock images are less likely to rip or become warped from the glue) Step 2. Line up your popsicle sticks to the width needed to fit your image then let your child glue the image. (You might want to use a paint brush if using liquid glue to smooth any bumps or air pockets). Let dry.

Step 3. After it is completely dry, slice the image between each popsicle stick. You may want to break up the sticks just a little to break any hardened glue between them. Also, exacto knifes are wicked sharp. It is best to cut with the image face down as the knife could cut right through the stick and ruin the puzzle.

Brilliant! Five Second of FUN-FILLED FUN-NESS!

TA-DA! Easy and cheap cheap cheap. I bought my pack of sticks for less than two bucks and could probably make 20 more of these. It’s fun, easy and your child can help, if not old enough to do it themselves.

About those mosquito-eating bats…

So I’ve been complaining about these mosquitos and rightly so! They are EVERYWHERE this year. I itch in places I’ve never itched and my kid looks like he suffers from premature acne. Not only has it rained almost daily for three weeks, yum yum, but I have not seen ONE bat this season to come eat these suckers (nor any frogs, who eat their eggs). Whats up? Where are the bats? Bats might freak some people out, but they can eat up to 1000 mosquitos in an hour! I’m probably swatting that many off of myself and Will in an hour. That’s an hour of swat-free living pontentiality (not a word?)!  They make up a quarter of the earth’s mammal population but they are on the endangered list. In large part because of this new fungus disease we’ve been hearing about called white-nose syndrome, but we are also eating up their habitat faster than myself with a plate of sushi (why does sushi have to be so small and delicious? The whole experience is over in five minutes).

If you live in an area with bats (which almost all of you do) and you have a mosquito-palooza hosted on your property, then maybe you and the kids can work together to build your own bat house! We already live in a bat house ourselves, but I think the bats are put off by the volume of our tv so we have to build their own separate apartment. So here’s the thing; I have no patience for craftiness that takes longer than 30 minutes. It takes me a year to crotchet a dish towel because I’m not very fast and I get agitated then walk away from it for six months. So a bat house is out for me, but my father in law is a carpenter and loooves doing things extremely slow, so I might pass the torch to him. But YOU might care about the bats (aka mosquitos) and are patient enough to try out building a bat house for your family. At Batworld.org they have some great tips to help you build a bat nest , plus a kids page so you can make this an educational experience (throw in some math skills for measurements). And if you would rather just learn about bats while comfortably buying a cheap, pre-cut bat house that takes minutes to build you can do that too. Cause bats are cool and they eat annoying bugs. But if one ever got close enough to me I’m sure to scream like a child and run into the house.

Summer Bug Blues

We live in Upstate New York. This means that 5 months out of the year we look at the world from behind warm foggy glass, barely smelling fresh air and looking a healthy 10 lbs heavier from the layers. I spend 4 of those 5 months dreaming of summer. Oh summer, sigh, beautiful summer with its skirts, sprinklers, hammocks. I will totally be an awesome outdoors mom once summer gets here! Then summer got here…along with the bugs. Swarms! Invasion! Where are all the bats to come eats these things?! (see my post to learn more about this bat issue) An ethereal gnat-formed cloud gravitates around my head. I am the sun in my own solar system. Gnats in the eyes, up the nose, buzzing around the ears. Torture. My son, 2 year old Will, doesn’t seem to notice they exist and goes about playing. Then the rain came, weeks upon weeks of rain. Then the mosquitos came and keep coming. We look struck with the plague. A pack of cave people scratching their ears, legs and bellies like dogs. Why summer why?! Upstate New York is so beautiful behind glass.

So how to we beat it? Firstly, we drench ourselves in citronella-infused oil and it is a good thing that I like that smell. I have also heard they don’t care for the smell of dryer sheets. I chased after my running son all over the yard, dryer sheet in hand, rubbing his clothes in fury. I didn’t notice much difference, but maybe they like the smell of Gain? For the gnats I have to wear sunglasses, a hat, keep my mouth closed and stop breathing through my nose entirely. This is the most effective method as within a short time I pass out and thus am removed from the situation all together.

We also bought a children’s natural bug spray, All Terrian Kids Herbal Armor . That actually works pretty well! I use it on myself, though it of course takes a little more and you should just keep it around with you outside because you do need to reapply it often (they say every 2-3 hrs, but we do it every hour that we are out).

If it isn’t too wet, we have a fire going to help keep them at bay. We also don’t stop moving, if possible, so they have less landing opportunity. And it if is too wet, scout your property for potential mosquito breeding grounds. If you don’t know, pools of water are rampant with mosquito mating (gross), dump that out and keep any basin’s turned over unless you need them.

If you really want to protect your child’s skin from bites, then cover it as much as possible (though avoid heavy and dark material as mosquitos are attracted to warm bodies, not just “oh-so-sweet” little boys and girls. More like hot, sweaty, sticky kids). As much as I enjoy watching my toddler run naked in our yard, basking in the sunshine, I certainly don’t enjoy watching him digging his hand into his butt later, trying to scratch that itch.

Adorable but irritating. Mosquitos love this tush.

We also created “safe havens” throughout our property. A $10 children’s popup tent here, a mosquito net hanging from the tree over there. Somehow we deal. Plus, a lot of museums are free for 2 and under : )

If you have any tricks for beating the summer bug blues please comment and save us from this misery!