Ok so this is a post I never pictured myself writing, a post on essential oils and my use of them. Yet here we are. I will say in advance I am sorry for the amount of unedited iPhone pictures in this post. I am by no means a professional blogger, just a mama, trying to document life so I don't forget it later when lack of sleep has officially rattled my brain.
I am not really sure what got me thinking about essential oils (again) at this time in my life. I had been gifted the premium starter kit from young living from a sweet friend two years ago, but honestly never really did a whole lot with it, and what I did do was mostly wrong. I had zero training, and 2-3 years ago there wasn't a lot on pinterest about how to use them in every day life. I was applying a lot of oils "neat" (with no carrier oil) which is wrong, I wasn't diffusing the "expensive oils" I had because I didn't want to waste them, choosing instead to diffuse oils from Drug Emporium. I also thought of them more like a cold medicine/after thought/too late for them to do any good really. Basically I was lost as a goose, didn't want to purchase something else that I felt like would disclose all these secrets as to how these things were really supposed to be used and felt like "people" (read: virtual people, the internets) were hiding it purposefully.
Fast forward to the end of May,beginning of June, where a couple of things happened. #1 Halle Kate was NOT sleeping through the night. She was waking up every night between 12 and 4 at some point and screaming, FOR NO REASON. She wasn't scared, she wasn't hurt, she wasn't anything but mad that she was asleep I guess. It was the strangest thing. And it was EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. We hated having to get on to her in the middle of the night all the time, but yet that was the only way she would stop. I kept thinking there had to be a better solution, when I remembered my friend saying she diffused lavender in her master bedroom when her kiddo was a baby and the baby slept all night and both her and her husband woke up amazed at what a deep sleep they had just come out of. At this point I was still a huge skeptic but desperate times were calling for desperate measures, so on a whim one day I went searching for a diffuser to use in her room at night. I didn't want to wait the 2 days for amazon prime, so I went and found one at TJMaxx. About this time I also walked into a friends house to pick up a shirt I was going to borrow and smelled what I knew were essential oils even though I couldn't find the diffuser. It was the beginning of nap time for them, so there was also soft music playing. I remember thinking how peaceful it was and how much the smell added to the atmosphere she was trying to create.
A few weeks later Reid alerted me to an earache (I'm pretty sure it was swimmers ear) at 4:30 on a Friday. Doctor offices close at 5 so I didn't really expect a call back. I did get one, but the perscription drops they called in were $80! Um no thank you! I remembered the mom of one of Reid's classmates was an "oily" person so I texted her asking if she had anything that would help. She gave me the tiniest little dram of stuff and I went home and put it into a container I had from previously trying oils with young living. I rubbed it on the back of his ears and he didn't complain again! It was pretty awesome to watch him get relief and healing from that so quickly.
Then the next week or so both boys came down with what may have been strep throat. They had high fevers (100-102) and said their throat hurt. Owen also woke up once with an upset stomach. I started rubbing theives oil on their feet, chests, throats, and behind their ears. I did this religiously as well as put it on the bottoms of HK's feet to help keep her from getting it. After spending a day and a half in bed, alternating tylenol and motrin, they were on the mend! It was amazing. I thought for sure we were about to end up with $120 worth of doctor bills, but thankfully that was not the case. I don't know if it was strep or not, but I do think the oils aided us in how fast they got over their sickness.
I decided then to use the oils I had left over from my starter kit and make extra vials of what I had on hand. Pictured below is what all I made
- nighty-night roll on from the nighty-night Plant Therapy kids safe blend. This is what we had been diffusing in Halle Kate's room to help her sleep.)
- digize blend from young living to help with upset stomachs
- valor blend- the boys love this one, it is their brave oil
- frankensince oil
- theives oil blend, great for times when kiddos are sick
- I also have a couple of plant therapy roll ons and one young living roll on.
