What to do to Make #Allergy Season a Little More Bearable

As my long time readers know I suffer from allergies and asthma. I've had a major nose surgery a few years back (polyps and deviated septum fixed). I have to get allergy shots once a month now. It used to be that I got them once a week! Yikes!

I'm not perfect, but I'll tell you what helps me to feel the best I can feel during allergy season:

1. Take showers at night. Many people take them in the morning. It helps to get that pollen out of your hair before you go to bed. 


2. Cut your hair. I cut mine just because I have to wash it daily during this time of year. I dated someone once that would get pollen in his beard. He had to cut that off. In Georgia the pollen is so bad, you can see yellow powder all over. 


3. Wash your pillowcase often. Thankfully I have a Grandma that had tons of pillowcases that had sweet embroidery things on them. I inherited the big stack! I switch all our pillowcases out.


4. Take Zyrtec and nasal spray at night, and Singulair (if it's prescribed to you) in the morning. Singulair is not an antihistamine. It is however one of the only allergy meds that helps with asthma.
   
   Why take Zyrtec at night? It decreases inflammation. Much of the time allergies are worse in the morning, and better at night. If you take meds at night, you'll wake up feeling better.  


5. Flush your system out with a sinus rinse. I know they aren't the most desirable at first. I'm here to tell you that this helps so much!
   
   Things to watch out for with sinus rinses: Don't share them, clean them after each use, use warm water with them, pour or squeeze the water in slowly if you have a cold (it can be hard on the ears, and you may be so plugged very little comes out), use only filtered water. 


6. Get extra sleep. Easier said than done. 


7. Drink a lot of H2O. Flushes the system out more.


8. Drink or eat all the things that are known to reduce inflammation. Check out my Wellness Drink here! I'm not all about natural remedies. If they can work, I'm all about them. This Wellness Drink works. I researched all the things that reduce inflammation, put them in a pot to cook it, put it all in the blender to blend it, and 1/2 goes in the fridge, while the other 1/2 goes in the freezer. My husband looked at me crosseyed when I first made it. Now he asks, "Did you drink your Wellness Drink?" After about 20 minutes I get fluid up and out of my lungs. Isaak had a head cold. He had a cough that would not quit at night. He tried the Wellness Drink, and the cough went away in 20 minutes. It works so well! 




9. Want to go all natural? Try Quercetin with Bromelain. The combination helps with relief from inflammation. There are many different brands on the market.
   
   There's also Breathe Easy Essential Oils: Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Basil, Tea Tree, and Rosemary. You could mix them to clean with, or diffuse into the air. I think the all natural things help, but for me only minimally. Then again I have extreme allergies and asthma. I firmly believe that all bodies are different. What works for one person, may not work for someone else.
   
   Drinking Apple Cider Vinegar 3 times daily with "The Mother" is known to help allergies and asthma. 

Do you suffer from allergies and/asthma?

Random Tid Bits

1. Isaak just got in trouble at school the other day. The whole class was told to be quiet in line. A boy turned around and burped in Isaak's face. Isaak said, "Excuse you." He was nailed for talking. When he tried to explain what had happened, she thought he was back talking. She said she'd talk to his parents. When I heard about it I said, "Good! I wouldn't want someone burping in my face either. What was he supposed to do?" Possibly he shouldn't have used the tone he did, but again who wants someone burping in their face? Seriously it comes down to just having manners! If someone snaps a bra, burps or spits in someone's face, wipes poop on the wall, and so on they should be in trouble. Someone that calls someone out for their bad behavior shouldn't be in trouble. Just my opinion.
   
   The crazy thing was that this didn't happen with his teacher. I know we've had problems with her too. Class sizes are too big. It's got to be hard to control large numbers in a room.


2. We've had another problem with Isaak in school. Travis and Mica were both noticing he smells. I of course can't smell much, so it went right on past me. I was looking up stuff on B.O., puberty, and bad breath trying to figure out what to do. My sister said, "Have Travis smell his clothes to see where it's coming from." It was his pants. It's only humane to go to the bathroom when you need to go right? I found out he can only go 2 times a day. I pee way more than that myself. I drink a lot because of my allergies. I said, "Isaak if you have to go to the bathroom, raise your hand and go. If the teacher doesn't like it go see the Principal. Tell him your Mom said to do that. Let me get in trouble."
   
   I then read an article written by a Pediatric Urologist for Parent's Magazine about how unhealthy it is for kids to hold it. Like the Urologist, I believe that when someone has the urge to pee they should go. They shouldn't go 10, 20 or 60 minutes later! I understand that students can be stir crazy, and not trusted. Possibly go in teams. This is the first I'm hearing about this problem, so maybe just more breaks is all that's needed.
   
   Then I started thinking about girls that have gotten their period. A girl doesn't even know or understand what her body is going through at that age. What about the kid that has diarrhea? Yes if he/she has that they should be home, but if they get it in school there may be some problems. 


3. Our roller skating rink closed down. Do you have a rollerskating rink where you live? When Isaak found out it was closing about a month ago he said, "Since it's closing we should go there everyday!" The rest of us looked at each other, shook our heads and said, "Umm nope." 









4. Isaak's still in school choosing limbo. The school district I went to he toured. It's a brand new school. The only things is that he'll have 1 more year of elementary school + it's farther. When he visited he was like, "Everything is so little!" I think he's ready to move on up to middle school. What grade do they start middle school or junior high where you live? Here it depends on the district, and school. The district he's in now starts middle school in fifth or sixth grade depending on the middle school. The other district starts in seventh grade. 


5. We're supposed to have another arctic blast later this week. I hope it's not too bad. We're supposed to go from shorts to snow gear. Do you believe in global warming, or do think it's just weather being extreme? 

What Are Some of Your #easter #basket Ideas?

Scavenger Hunt

Every year I put together a Scavenger Hunt for Easter. We start at the coffee table, and they get a prize and a clue egg. It might say something like, "Where food is cooked you'll find 5 eggs each and the next clue egg."

They run off to look in the stove, or microwave, but there may be 5 eggs each and the clue egg in the pots and pans area instead. The next clue might say something like, "Rub a dub dub there's 14 eggs in the _____ + a clue egg."

They run off to look in the tub.

I hid eggs in the oddest spots. There's a lot of thinking that's involved. At each spot I try and keep  same colored eggs.

Mica caught me once. I bounced up, and opened and shut the front door. I said, "Mica! You just missed the Easter Bunny. He bounced off down the street! Look he left a huge mess in the kitchen!" I didn't finish my Scavenger Hunt that year. He thought it was so neat he almost caught the Easter Bunny.

When he asked all about Santa Claus I had to come clean because he just had too many questions that year. I told him about the Easter Bunny too. He believed me about Santa, but was surprised there's no Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy. He didn't believe in a man, but believed in a bunny and fairy! Ha!

What do/did you give to your kids for Easter? 

Usually I try and give them some kind of building thing, like a Lego set and a movie.

Shirts:

I got these shirts (mostly on sale) at Earthbound Trading Company.

2 totally different styles for Isaak:

Mica's obsessed with all things space. The boy watches YouTube videos on scientists talking about space.

This shirt was from Earthbound Trading Company:

This shirt was from Kohl's:

They are getting shorts with them too. I didn't think I'd shoot a photo of those.

Snacks:

The boys eat non stop, so I thought I'd get them some snacks. Annie's makes bunny crackers, so it's perfect for Easter time!

Books or Movies:

I know I'll probably hear something negative about this, but they are getting books instead of movies this year. Mica asked for The Iron Trial and Isaak's all about the Horizon series. He has yet to read this one.

What's Easter without candy?

I wish their favorites were the same things. They'll both eat really anything, but they each gravitate to certain things more than others.

Mica likes jelly beans the most. Isaak likes Peeps a lot. Travis and I could go for anything chocolate, or Reese's. I picked up Jordan Almonds because we all like them.

Clean Up!

One of the clues will be about cleaning. The Easter Bunny really wants them to clean! We don't need a lot of supplies. This should help them.

Since Mica LOVES Quiz Bowl at school, he should get into these Quiz Master games by Goliath.

Isaak has this horrible habit of taking the erasers off the backs of pencils. I'm putting these erasers in some of their plastic eggs.

Other Easter Ideas for Older Kids:

-Money
-Silly Putty
-Slime
-Silly String
-Yo-Yos
-Fidget Toys
-Rubiks Cube
-Wallets or Purses
-Hats

I thought about getting Isaak a felting set, but that so wouldn't be Mica's thing. Of course there's unique things, for different kids.

Do you get excited for Easter?

Disclaimer: I got the Goliath games and erasers awhile back from the companies. I reviewed them already. If you'd like to get the erasers you can get them here. If you'd like to get the Quiz Master Games get them here and here. The rest of the stuff in this post I bought. All opinions are my own.