I didn't think I liked granola

That's probably offensive to some isn't it.

Restated:  I wasn't sure I believed in all the "natural, organic" stuff.

Til now.

I may or may not have mentioned that oldest monkey has SEVERE allergies.  They are debilitating.  He can not spend any time outside in the spring without eyes that itch so bad he can't keep them open, a nose that runs AND is stuffed up and just feeling plain miserable. The last six months, in addition to all that, he has been having some pretty severe asthma attacks.   Hubby is the same way.  Spring and fall are brutal around here.

What to do?  I sent both to the allergist and $700 later hubby is set up with allergy drops instead of shots and I've made another $700 appointment for the monkey to get allergy testing which will tell me what I already know:  he and his dad are allergic to the air!  This is the loot they came home with from that appointment:

I took the plunge a few weeks ago and added omega 3 to the monkey's daily routine in hopes of finding something that will keep his ADHD meds last longer, and I think it's helping.  I do think he's more aware of his surroundings and people.  Of course, this could be in direct line with our independence training at home too.

After yet another week of horrible allergies, his showing up at my bedside at 2:00 AM three nights in a row because his itchy eyes woke him up and way too many asthma attacks, and not going to recess for a week, someone asked if I were trying essential oils.  I said no while secretly thinking they were bonkers.  Crazy people.

I realized I had no other options and I'm taking the "won't hurt, might help" approach to most things these days.  So off I went to research essential oils.  Man, there is a LOT of stuff out there.  But I did find many many people's stories and lots of recipes for allergies and thought it was worth a go,

I chose to order Lavender, Lemon and Peppermint, Young Living brand.  I can't really tell you why I settled on this brand but I did.  I was not pleased with the price, and will be looking into other brands later.

The first to arrive were Lemon and Peppermint.  I had done my research and knew that you must use a carrier oil for peppermint, as it's a "hot oil" meaning that it could hurt the skin if applied by itself.  I mixed a couple of drops into a tsp of olive oil and put it on my monkey's chest.  He LOVED it. He loves mint anyway, so this was an added bonus!

*I need to add here that many times asthmatic coughs are wheezy since the airways are so constricted and tense.  Littlest monkey can have a cough like this but after several breathing treatments, it loosens up and becomes "wet", which is good.  That means stuff is moving around and things are open.  Oldest Monkey NEVER gets this cough.  He never loosens up.

I didn't have the lavender yet, so this was all I could try.  I hit him again in the morning and sent him to school.  When he got home that afternoon, his cough was wet.  He was open.  No wheezing.  But I realized that I had ALSO started the new inhaler and asthma med so I really didn't know if it was helping or not.

Then, the lavender arrived.  He actually didn't mind the smell, nor did I for that matter.  I mixed them up and hit the kids.  Not literally people.

I used the mix on the kids each night before bed and then in the morning before school.  I put it on their feet and put socks on.  They found it hilarious and didn't mind at all.

After about 24 hours, I noticed that neither one of them had a stuffy or runny nose.  At all.  Weird.  And the littlest one has had NO allergy meds in over a week.

I kept it up for a few days and felt very confident they were working, but still wasn't quite sure about the older one.  I didn't really know if it were the asthma meds or not.

Speed ahead to last Thursday.  We were now within our 5 day range of no antihistamines before testing.  I have been worried about this since we are at the height of pollen season.  I stopped all oils and antihistamines on the oldest one.

Result:  His breathing stayed the same, but his stuffy nose and itchy eyes came back.  Again, I really think they were effective.

So, we will continue with the three oils for the boys.  Today is allergy testing and he is so excited to have his oils back.  He said, "mommy, thanks for getting those so I don't have to take medicine!"

Next installment:  How Hubby took to them :)