we're not sick, we're transforming into butterflies.

 We've been sick with this terrible strain of the flu where your whole body aches, you're feverish, and then you get the head cold that makes you feel like you're under water. The back ache I got from this was unreal. But what's worse than being ill as an adult, is seeing your children sick and in pain.


I've been doing a lot of my own research in books and online (read here and this  great post  )and have recently had many conversations with friends about the terrifying fevers we see in our children. So when this cold came along,  it was time to put into practice what I've been learning. We're trying hard this year to wean ourselves off of Tylenol and Advil and trying the old fashioned remedies to work their magic and allow our bodies to heal on their own. But first we have to change our perspective...Looking at illness in a different light, as Dr. Thomas Cowan writes about, is the best thing we can do for our kids:

Another way to put this is that when a child encounters an impediment, say a foreign protein or an organ that is not being formed quite right, he goes into “remodeling mode.” The remodeling is done by tearing down the old, misshapen matter, taking it out to the dumpster, and then rebuilding a more suitable house to inhabit. This is exactly what is done through illness. Take measles: the temperature goes up to 104, the eyes water, the nose runs, the lungs cough up mucus, the kidneys excrete extra broken down proteins, the bowels are loose and the child aches all over. These symptoms herald the construction of a newer, healthier body, one that is more individualized to the dynamics of the child. This is a profoundly healing and spiritual process, and like everything of such gravity, it has its risks and dangers. The risk of a snake shedding its skin, of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, of striving to do something that has never been done before, is that you can fail and fall into the abyss. Not trying, however, is even worse. Our job as parents and doctors is to help the child cross the bridge of illness with our loving, caring, intelligent guidance as we experience the natural processes that are at work as our children struggle with their illnesses."

Understanding the Process
When you start to understand what the body's doing and not fight the symptoms, say for example, extra mucous- you realize that it's actually a good thing to see and then you get super excited…I mean, Finn's got mucous running down his face today, and because my perspective has changed, I'm praising it:"Oh yay, the gross germs are leaving his body via the constant stream of mucous! Keep that gorgeous slime coming." And Fever? She's a playmate welcome here anytime. "Oh good to see, Ellie, you're cheeks are red and you're hot to touch! You're little internal heater is burning off those foreign invaders!"Ok, not really. It's still not easy. I was jumpy the entire four days that Ellie had a fever, and had to continually go back to reading about fever and when to start worrying, and when to leave her be. But we're working on our roles, from being former Advil administrator's to gentle homeopathic mediators. We wanna be parents that  help our children "cross the bridge of illness", as Dr. Cowen so eloquently puts. 


So The Other Day
On the way home from seeing our family doctor ( who prescribed antibiotics for both, not even bothering to look into Finn's ears or throat!) I was pretty disheartened. I know there are amazing GP's who don't hand out prescriptions like candy, who care to figure out their patients and spend more than two minutes with them…the problem is we don't have that here ( and the shortage of family physicians are for another post; I'm not picky, very grateful we have one at all). I don't have an issue with antibiotics- they are truly a miracle but they work less and less when we use them more frequently. 


I had a sudden brain wave to just quickly check and see if this new naturopathic doctor was available that day to take a look at Ellie.  We got in, and Dr. Mountain  looked at her ear and said there was definitely redness and inflammation, but not to the point where she needed antibiotics yet. He said we could try to clear it with a few easy remedies. If there was no change, antibiotics would be necessary. Wonderful news that we had bought some time... but what was even better was how handsome he was  the length of time he spent with us, encouraging us in our efforts and stressing the importance of fevers (up to a certain point. There are fevers that are damaging and we need to be careful they don't get dangerously high, but what's more important is to watch their demeanour for  change). He was also asking us questions to try sleuth out why Ellie has been  getting ear infections in the first place, not just focusing on the event of the inflammation.


What We Did That Helped
***Bought this little wonder oil for the ear infections: warm bottle in hot water, give 5 drops per ear, 3x daily  and try to get the child to lay on a pillow to let it sink in deep.

St. Francis Ear Oil. $12 online, or if you want to spend $7 extra, hit up Nutters. 


(Also bought by the same brand, Deep Immunity tincture to boost their little bodies)

***Homemade cough syrup. Getting Ellie's cough under control was easy with this…and no complaints of taste. But then again she's my little trouper who'll take fermented cod liver 

oil without blinking. 

The recipe is really hard though…Are you ready with a pen? Ok, chop an onion up, put it in a mason jar, cover onions with honey, screw on top and put jar in fridge overnight. Drain syrup out in the morning, and voila! The liquid is ready to soothe.


***Next, Wet Sock Treatment. Equipment: two pairs of cotton tube socks, two pairs of wool socks, warm and cold water.  Here is how you do it! We only did it two nights and seriously, Ellie is totally over her cold.  My friend Jen can also vouch for this method. 
-If you know her, you'd be quite aware she don't mess around with no sickness. Her own husband has been sent to the leprosy camps, I mean quarantine, when he's caught the bug.


***Lots of tea with Elderberry and Echinacea, plus our own ginger honey and lemon mixture.




So now that our medicine cabinet- rather, sock drawer and pantry, is all stocked up thanks to this flu, we are set for the next one…I hope I won't be as worried about getting rid of all of their symptoms and fevers when I now know what the body's up to when it goes into repair mode. 




Is there anything that your family does when they are hit with the bug? Would love if you could start/ add to the discussion!