Unfortunately we had rather a rooted Easter weekend. I can’t really put it any other way. It sucked butts.
Each person in the house was afflicted with a different version of the chesty cold/sore throat thing. There was much ado about everything in the wee hours, loads of bawling and plenty of sweat, chunder, drool, etc.
On Easter Sunday we all felt a little more human and thus I was browsing Facebook for the first time in five days. I was assaulted with so much proactive-parenting I wanted to sob. Icing sugar easter bunny footprints, letters to the Easter Bunny, egg baskets, egg hats, pixies doing easter pixie stuff, elaborate egg hunts on the beach, whilst camping. You name it.
All bloody awesome shit. All reminding me how crap we were.
I was, for all intents and purposes, an incapacitated observer while our pre-schooler got the egg the Easter Bunny (grandparents) thoughtfully gave him in its Big W plastic bag (luckily the receipt came with it). He then proceeded to drive the egg and quite a few more down his gullet, while we watched in admiration, unable to provide any useful guidance whatsoever. The day continued in that vein, the only change being in the child’s mood which went from elation to morose and back again with each chocolate fix.
ANYWAY. Now I’m feeling quite a bit better. Compared to a normal person, I look like I’ve been living on the streets for a good few months. In a tunnel. Under the subway. With rats gnawing away at my gangrenous toes. And bat poo under my eyes.
But yes I am better none-the-less. So in my usual way (I do like to be a fixer when it comes to things being broken on my person) I’m thinking: where to from here?
How do I pull myself together so that I recover quickly? Should I be considering a bit of immunity boosting prep? Is there something for the long term I could be working on? Here’s what I’m going to be up to:
1. Get through today
Here’s a bit of motivational pep to remind myself that although I’m feeling foul, I’ve come a long way. And the key to functioning when one is not feeling the best is to just focus on getting through today. Stay in the now.
2. Treat myself
I’m getting a haircut and colour. There’s nothing like treating yourself, huh? A facial, massage, pedicure…whatever it is that you really enjoy, do it and you’re sure to feel a million bucks (or at least 24 cents). And right now I reckon it’s totally cool for me to sleep as much as I can.
3. Stay one step ahead – be prepared
Unfortunately life doesn’t stand still when you’re not feeling well. DAMN. So what I do is try and get a bunch of things sorted when I am feeling at my best. When I feel really crapola, I lie down if at all possible. Or just fall where I am standing.
4. Boost immunity
In order to work this bug out of my system and bring in some goodness, I’ve made appointments with my team of various natural health practitioners.
For this ‘project’, my team consists of a naturopath, an acupuncturist and a kinesiologist. I highly recommend everyone has a bunch of practitioners (natural or otherwise) on hand that you really trust, and that you can call on when you need advice or some proactive assistance.
Once I’ve done all that I will write myself a bit of a health plan with an immunity-boosting diet and exercise schedule (more on this soon!).
Probably won’t make shit-all difference in terms of fending off winter beasties. But it makes me feel better mentally. And that’s probably the most important thing of all!
Look out for part 2 where I investigate immunity-boosting foods, exercise and how to stay one step ahead of those dreaded winter lurgies.
Do you and your family get sick at this time of year? What do you do about it?
Ugh, we get sick every winter in our house – colds and flu and gastro – we get it all. I blame the nail biters of the family, which unfortunately includes me so I am finally stopping after 40 years of habitual biting. I can’t stand the idea of constant illness for the next few months! Looking forward to more info on immunity boosting foods!