This past winter season has been crazy for my family. I don’t ever remember dealing with sicknesses so much, so often.
And we live a healthy lifestyle! That’s the worst part. How crazy and ridiculous is it! It makes me feel like such a hypocrite. We eat healthy, we steer clear of toxins, we get outside and are active, and yet, we’re constantly sick it seems!! It’s so frustrating!
Oh wait, I know what it is. We come from a LARGE family, and we have lots of little kids that we’re always around. My sister-in-laws and I have discussed this in the past. One of our kids always seems to have something, and it’s always being shared with a cousin. How nice is that? But you know what… that’s just how it is in large families. My word… I don’t know how Mrs. Dugger does it when hers all get sick!
It seems that since this past Christmas it’s been one type of sickness then another… all circulating around each of our families. Here for a week, gone a week, something else the following week. Crazy!
A New Illness
This past week, we’ve come down with something again. A stomach bug. Most likely a virus. It’s thought that 60% of stomach bugs are viral and 40% are bacterial. The most common type of stomach virus comes from the norovirus, and there are 5 different strains of it.
Unfortunately these kinds of viruses are VERY contagious and they spread easily from person to person when living in close quarters.
So what’s a natural mama to do to try to prevent it from spreading farther?
My Disinfecting Plan
Well, besides telling everyone in the family to wash their hands constantly… I’ve been in major disinfecting mode.
Now I’m not a big germ-a-phobe. In fact, I think being exposed to germs is a good thing. I’m hoping God has a plan with all this sickness that’s been going around and we’re dealing with all of this now so that we all have super strong immune systems when Baby Ezrah comes at the end of April. So even though I normally don’t run around disinfecting everything in my house (besides the toilet), when something like this is here, I majorly disinfect.
But how do you do that besides using chemical cleaners? How does something natural work to disinfect so well?
Well, I’ve found a great answer.
My friend, Heather over at Mommypotamus.com, has an awesome DIY natural cleaning e-book that’s packed full of awesome natural homemade cleaners. When we came down with this new sickness, I immediately pulled her book up on my computer and went searching for a really great disinfectant, and luckily I found it.
It’s called “Tea Tree & Clove All-Purpose Sanitizer,” and it’s just what I need. It’s not like normal disinfectant sprays. The normal all-purpose spray I use is a combo of vinegar, water, and disinfecting essential oils (this is the blend I normally use), but the sanitizer in Heather’s guide is a two step process and she tells you why it has to be that way.
The Science Behind This Natural Disinfectant Spray
I’m paraphrasing here, but Heather found a research study done by the University of Nebraska where a food scientist sprayed several fruits and veggies with nasty bacteria. She then sprayed some with a vinegar only solution. It did pretty well. It killed around 100 organisms. She then sprayed some with hydrogen peroxide and found that it did even better, killing 10,000 organisms. Finally she sprayed some with both the vinegar and the hydrogen peroxide and found that it was the best yet, killing 100,000 organisms. But, they learned that the combo of vinegar and peroxide wasn’t as effective when mixed together… only when one was used after the other. How weird is that?
Anyway, since I’m in major disinfecting mode, this seems to be a great answer to my natural cleaning woes. Not only does it use two great all-natural cleaners, but it also has the disinfecting boost of tea tree and clove essential oils in it.
So wish me luck with getting rid of this junk and keeping as many of my family members from getting it as possible.
Get A Copy Of This Cleaning E-book For Your Home
If you’re interested in cleaning your home naturally, I highly recommend Heather’s e-book – DIY Non-Toxic Cleaning Recipes. It has over 50 recipes in it, and she includes great info to back up what she’s sharing so your really can see why these recipes work. It’s a great resource to have on hand, all in one place. At least these are some of the many reasons why I love it!
Thank you for this post! I can identify completely! I am a nurse and am studying to be a master herbalist. We are a very natural family who are active and try to consistently build our immune systems with fresh air, fresh food, fresh water, sunlight and good rest. We have depleted our large supply of home grown garlic and nearly all of our 70 plus quarts of homemade nourishing chicken stock. We have four sons and I have been amazed at how sick we have been this year,especially since the year before we had just one case of the sniffles to our record. I was actually taking pride in the fact that it must have been our healthy lifestyle. So, I know what you mean when you say you feel like a hypocrite. I have been perplexed at the ferocious nature of the germs this year and like you wondered if our immune systems weren’t being prepared for something to come. I feel slightly better knowing that I am not the only mama struggling to keep my family well this loooong winter season.
Thanks Again,
Gina
Oh Gina! You’re so right! I’m so grateful we normally don’t come down with more than a cold, but this past winter season has been crazy. I feel like we keep getting hit with everything that comes our way. I have been hearing that the germs and illnesses this year are hitting people harder so that could be it. Maybe we’re just being faced with different viruses. It could also be because we have little children, and they tend to pick up everything. Plus I suppose their immune systems are still developing so they will have a tendency to get these germs more than dad or I would.
Anyway, you’re right… it is frustrating. I’m sorry you’ve gone through it to, but it is nice to know it’s not just us (and maybe I’m not missing something that I should be doing). Now that we’re on the other side of this, I’m not sure what else to do. I’m sure what we do during the recovery period is just as important as what we do during the sickness so we’re working on keeping up the immune boosters and continuing with our normal healthy food. Here’s hoping and praying we all stay healthy and that summer is a time of cleansing, renewing, and preparing for next winter! Thanks for your comment!
We need healthy cleaning supplies! Thank you!
You’re welcome Jo Nell!
Did you try this? Does it work?
This does work… in my opinion, that is. There’s a bit of scientific evidence to back it up as well, which is good to know. Hope this answers your question!