Blood Suckers

Though I strive to use products on my children that are free from unpronounceable chemicals, dangerous disruptors and other man made nasties, I try not to be too uptight about. If we run out of SLS free shampoo, we'll use what we have. If goat milk soap isn't in the budget, I take from my stash of grocery store soap I was able to acquire free with a coupon. But there are some things I simply cannot compromise on. I try to be prepared when we travel so that I've got a natural remedy for whatever comes up. But this weekend, I dropped the ball....and I'm still twitching.

The kids and I are home in NM this weekend for one last hurrah before K starts school. My home town has been blessed with several weeks of good, much needed rain. The country is green, the creeks are running and the wilflowers are in bloom. But all the rain has also given life to the biggest, meanest, blood sucking mosquitos I have ever seen. Ever. And since these rabid little pests aren't usually an issue when we visit, I had absolutely nothing to repel the little buggers and stop them from eating us alive.


Wildflowers for Momma :)

With nothing but OFF spray in my Mom's medicine cabinet to combat them, I decided I'd rather have my kids suffer a few itchy bites than be coated in toxic chemicals. But when K's bites started to really swell and redden, I realized she may be allergic to mosquitos. If she was going to enjoy the last bit of these perfect mountain summer days before returning to the heat of the desert, I was going to have to suck it up and spray her down. And I did. And I've been feeling horrible about it since I applied it this morning.


To appease the "natural" side in me, my Mom taped pennies to K's worst bites. The copper is supposed to help with the itching. I'd never heard of this remedy and  K wasn't too keen on having pennies taped on her but it did keep her from scratching!

She's been outside all day and not one new bite to show. DEET is effective it nothing else. But once we return home, I think I'll be repacking my remedy kit to include something for repelling the creepie crawlies. Lemon eucalyptus oil has been proven more effective than DEET for up to 120 minutes. Lavender and citronella oils work too. I messed up this weekend but I promise I'll be better prepared next time. Hopefully my daughter won't grow a third eye...