DIY Hand Soap For Kids

In the haze of the early COVID 19 panic buying, I also needed bath soap for my babies and antibacterial hand soap for the entirety family. As stock was depleting at most retailers I started researching alternatives and stumbled upon Dr. Bronner’s soaps. I specifically got Pure Baby Castille soap as it’s the mildest version and would be best for my kids. It’s concentrated soap which is great as it means we can get several uses out of this. Here are the things we’ve used it for so far:

1. DIY hand soap for the kids and the entire family! We just poured a bit into an empty pump foam bottle and added some drops of tea tree essential oil to give it antibacterial properties. This has also helped to reduce the ashiness of our hands.

2. As a bath soap for the kids. This has been really helpful in clearing up a stubborn patch of eczema on my youngest that even the fancy baby eczema soaps could not budge.

3. This has made a great laundry detergent for rinsing my babies soiled cloth diapers and clothes. A little really does go a long way here.

What are some other uses you’ve found for pure castille soap? 

4 Indoor Movement Ideas for Littles

No backyard or the weather outside is just not great? Here’s a quick back to basics list of 4 fun activities to keep littles preoccupied indoors. Print it out and put it up in case you run out of ideas.🤪You’re Welcome! What other indoor activities for littles would you add?

Toddler Spring Time Activities!

This is a special moment in history where all of us Mamas (and care givers) have been gifted with some extra quality time to spend with our littles; having fun and creating memories. Since we’re all racking our brains for low cost, fun and educational ways to create these memories, I’ve come up with this quick and easy checklist. Print it off so you and your little one can check off as you go along. You’re welcome! 

Drop me a line in the comments if you found this useful. Happy Momming! 

Pretty Sure I Had Corona...

Disclaimer: I have never tested for the Corona virus and this is not an invitation for anyone to track me down to get tested. Lol but seriously. This is strictly based on my observation of what happened to others who were tested and comparing it to what I experienced. What follows is what I used to recover from what I suspect may have been a strain of the Corona virus. This is also not medical advice. If you do have Corona virus consult with a Doctor. Make of it what you will. 

Photo from wired.com

My Corona Story...
My family and I recently returned to Canada from a visit to the Caribbean. We were there for almost a month on vacation. N.B: My whole lifestyle is naturally self -isolating, these days, as I am a stay at home mom of two littles and it’s currently Winter. Back to my story...

For the headache...
About a week or so after being home, I started having headaches which is odd for me and to the point that I had to take a Tylenol pain killer. The following day or so,  I woke up with a big lump in my throat. That was shortly followed by getting cold chills at night, when everybody else was feeling normal. As a mom of two littles, I have a general policy to attack a sore throat immediately! I pretty much take medication instead of waiting for it to escalate, so that’s what I did, although in my mind this was just a cold/flu. The only difference is that this was unlike any cold/flu I’ve ever felt before. So I went into attack mode as I started experiencing a number of other symptoms. Here’s what I took for what...

For the sore throat...
The first thing I took was the NeoCitran Flu Tea - Drowsy as that’s what we had in the house. When I went through that box, I also got a box of NeoCitran Cold and Sinus - Drowsy which worked better for me. I just drank that hot tea every 4hrs or so and it helped relieve my sore throat. At night I always felt much worse...

For the night time congestion...
At night the congestion really hit. It was almost as if as soon as the sun went down the bacteria came out to play. For the congestion, I ran a warm mist humidifier on one side of the room and on the other side of the room a cool mist humidifier/essential oil diffuser was busy misting peppermint and then tea tree essential oil.

To provide extra relief to my lungs, I started rubbing my chest and back area with Vicks. As the days progressed the Vicks by itself became ineffective, so I added Tiger Balm on top. Tiger Balm  essentially does the same things Vicks does so this was a very strong and effective combo. That stuff stings but it works!

Road to Recovery...
I continued using all of these things every day/night consistently until I started to recover. Oh before I forget...I drank lots of  Orange Juice, Apple Juice and Water. Drinking lots of fluids (especially warm or Vitamin C packed) or even just room temperature water, helps to loosen the mucous. Very soon I was able to cough up the thickest mucous I had ever seen (I know tmi) and pretty soon I only had mild laryngitis and a mild cough.

After coughing/hacking up mucous I had a lingering dry cough. I took Buckley’s cough syrup and that got rid of the cough gradually until one day I woke up free of all symptoms. 🙏 My voice is back and I can say I’ve completely recovered from what I believe was COVID 19!

"Act swiftly and aggressively, the very minute you feel a headache or sore throat..."

The Takeaway...
To anyone going through this, or if anyone close to you, is please pass on these tips. The key message here is to act swiftly and aggressively, the very minute you feel a headache or sore throat please do not let it linger and please do self quarantine. Also, if you have any underlying health issues please call your Family Doc for guidance before taking any over the counter remedies. Stay safe till next time. xoxo

Comment below if you think I really had Corona or just a Flu? 🥴