I joke around a lot about using my “voo-doo potions” and being a crunchy granola mama. I am now prepared to prove that herbals and homeopathics and vials and tablets? They are no joking matter.
This is the contents of just one of three cabinets that we use to store medicine and “potions.” Revealing this makes me something akin to a witch doctor, doesn’t it?
Behold, the Pill Drawer:
I have a reason for dragging all of this out. In preparing to leave the country for several weeks with my children staying at home, everything in the house must be in working order, easy for anyone to navigate and understand. I think we can all agree the previous system of first aid was not working. I organized the pill drawer and the vials of tinctures until I came up with a more reasonable system.
There’s a bin for homeopathics, a bin for herbals, a bin for traditional medicines (who doesn’t need a little children’s ibuprofen every now and then?), and a bin that says, “Start Here!”
This is my bin of go-to tricks and potions that are staples of keeping our family in good health. I’ve talked about some of these things in detail, but here’s the quick run-down, for those of you who are only mildly interested:
Garlic Ear Oil (for stronger ear infections)
Bach’s Rescue Remedy – I keep this in my purse, too. Very handy if somebody has a fit, gets weepy, or suffers some trauma. I just pop a dropperful into their wide open mouth (because they’re always yelling) and it chills them out pretty quick. I know it works because I used it on myself once when I was crying in my car (every mama does that sometimes, right?) and needed to go into a meeting and look pulled together. The Bach’s did the trick.
Arnica – I have it in gel form for skin bumps and bruises and in tablet form for mouth wounds (like when Sam broke his face) or for bumps on the head where I can’t get the gel close to the skin. I have some of this in the car, in my purse, on the counter, and a spare under the sink. A MUST. I also use this when somebody gets a “fake boo-boo” to make them think I’m doing something useful about their woes.
Echinacea – Our life is one big petri dish. I start pouring this down the kids at the first sign of a drippy nose.
Mullein – This is the herbal remedy when a cold heads south to the lungs.
Cherry Bark Honey Syrup – We use this to help calm down a scratchy throat .
Calcium Lactate – Fevers are a sign that the body is fighting something off. So rather than squelch the fever, we give the kids calcium lactate to make them more comfortable. This helps the aches and chills, but lets the fever keep working. Of course, if the fever gets too high, I switch to Epsom salt baths, and if I still can’t get the kid calm, we definitely pull out ye old fashioned ibuprofen.
All of the rest of the pills, tinctures, and gauze are now in a Google Doc listed according to location with some explanation beside them of what they do. Hopefully this will help our caretakers locate the band-aids when somebody gets a boo-boo.
Or maybe they can find the Bach’s Rescue Remedy when they have a panic attack at the sight of all of those vials…
I’m not a medical professional, a nutritionist, an herbalist, or a certified voo-dooist. Try these at your own risk.
