When mommies get sick

Here in Mommyville, I've seen my fair share of flu, colds, stomach viruses, ear infections, and even pneumonia. And two of my brood are asthmatic (that's another matter altogether). I've held my sick babies with fevers sometime high enough for an emergency room visit. I've given breathing treatments, bribed and/or forced antibiotics into little bodies, cleaned poop, mopped up vomit, spoon-fed chicken soup, and washed sheets and blankets and towels for what seemed to be 3 days straight (or longer). It's what I do. Just one of my many jobs as mayor of Mommyville.

But what happens when Mommy gets sick? This week I've had the worst cough. The cold wasn't so bad. It was gone in a couple of days. But this cough! One of those that makes your stomach muscles hurt from constantly contracting them. The kind that feels like you have sandpaper stuck in your throat. The kind that can make you pee your pants if you're not careful. The kind that makes you vomit. Oh yeah, it's that bad. And it's still here.

So, Daddy (I think of him as my deputy mayor) has picked up the slack where he can. He's picking the kids up from school, and taking them to their karate practices. He can only do so much though, with that pesky job of his taking up 10+ hours a day and all. On his way home from work this morning (he's on night shift this week) he did bring the kids McDonald's for breakfast. The only thing is, he gets home at 5:40 a.m. And he woke everyone up "just a little early" to enjoy breakfast with Daddy. They actually got up! Even #1, the perpetual late sleeper. So he gets and "A+" for feeding them breakfast, and saving them from eating coughed-on Cheerios.

But you Mommies know that even a sick Mommy has to get up and "DO". There's always something that only I can do (at least in my opinion). I'm a laundry Nazi. Only I can do it the right way. The dishwasher must be loaded the right way too, or we all know it doesn't get as clean. So this week, I've been researching home remedies for coughs from hell. I'm not a fan of OTC cold medicines, for my kids or myself (a couple of years ago, after giving #2 a cough suppressant for a few days, she developed pneumonia from NOT coughing enough. All the yucky stuff that needed to come up was draining into her lungs. Scary, huh?) The good ones just knock you out anyway, and this Mommy doesn't have the luxury of being comatose while riding the cold out. Dishes, laundry, remember? So here are some things I tried:


Vick's Vaporub Cream
I've tried the old "smother-your-feet-with-Vick's" trick. It works pretty well. But you must be laying down and doing nothing for it to be effective. It's not so good for walking around doing housework. So, heavy slathering on the soles of your feet, then thick socks on, then go to bed. It helps. During the day, I still use it on my chest. It helps a little.




Honey

I take two teaspoons of honey. On one spoonful I sprinkle ground ginger. This really helps me! I don't know what it is about honey, but it's effective. I think the spiciness of the ginger helps open up your airways. You could also try cayenne or black pepper. I'm not worried about overdosing, so I use this a few times a day, whenever I feel like I need it, and at bedtime.

Spicy Foods
Just like the ginger, I think anything spicy helps. So In the last few days, I've eaten tacos, breakfast burritos with hot sauce, grits with hot salsa, and soup with lots of pepper. Spicy is good.




But truthfully, I'm still coughing. It's getting better, but it's still here. What works for you? If you have any tried and true home remedies, I'd love to hear them!