My friend Amanda mentioned to me yesterday that putting the essential oil of eucalyptus on the soles of your feet will calm a cough. She says you can also use Vic’s Vapor Rub, but of course that is a petroleum product and avoided if possible. Best to stick with essential oils, if you can.

As it happens, my son had been hanging on to a  lingering cough. He came home from school early yesterday with an unrelated malady (vomited in the car on the short drive home from school and then had explosive diarreah for the rest of the day. A nasty bug? Bad food? A quick stomach virus? It’s a mystery. I immediately put him on the BRAT (bananas/rice/applesauce/toast) diet to ease his G.I. system and gave him a bottle of electrolyte water, plenty of liquid and probiotics to rebuild his gut. I think this was a good course of action as the diarreah has stopped. He’s better today, though tired and not a lot of energy. ).

Anyway, I happened to have eucalyptus oil so I put it liberally on the soles of his feet once in the afternoon and again after his pre-bed bath. The results: not a single cough all night, nor one this morning, and mornings are when he has been coughing the most. I think it was a successful test and I’m convinced!

Both of my kids came down with chickenpox in January. Well, you might be thinking, that what you get for being a nature hippie and not getting the vaccine. But you’re wrong.

In fact, I do believe in vaccines and both my kids had received the chickenpox vaccination on schedule. It turns out that the chickenpox vaccine was 100% ineffective in our family.

Ok, that may be an overstatement. When I brought my son into the pediatrician because he had raised, pus-filled spots around his genitals (a rash? an allergy? smallpox? herpes?), I didn’t even suspect chickenpox because he had had the above-mentioned vaccination. Luckily, the doc on call that Saturday had 25 years experience and could identify chickenpox, unlike many younger docs fresh out of med school within the past 8 years. He said that if my son hadn’t been vaccinated, he would have shown a fever of 103, been sick as a dog and vomiting, and trying to scratch his skin off. As it was, you wouldn’t have known he had 50+ pox on his body without lifting his shirt. He seemed almost fine otherwise.  A little itchy and a little restless.

Still contagious, of course. And had to be quarantined until the last pox scabbed over. Then, thirteen days later, his sister got it. She was a bit itchier, though had fewer pox, and was more restless.

The restlessness is characteristic of chickenpox. I guess the virus wants the host to go out and spread it around. She was really out of sorts the night before the first pox appeared.

The homeopathic remedy for chickenpox is Rhus Tox. As soon as I gave one dose to each child, the restlessness calmed and the itchiness decreased. I also bathed them in a warm bath with Epsom salts to relieve the discomfort from the spots. Epsom salt baths are great for easing everything from sunburn to diaper rash.

My cousin’s 2-year old daughter was playing with my kids when my son showed spots, so she was definitely exposed as well. Luckily for her, the vaccination took and she has not shown any sign of pox and is now out of the danger period. A reminder to be thankful for small favors!