(If you’ve been reading through my Journey to Healthy Eating series, some of this information will be a repeat for you.  I’m just wanting to make sure any new people know what I’m talking about!)  Also, this is a really long post…I had a lot to say. 
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If you’ve had a child suffer from eczema, even a mild case, it can be incredibly frustrating to helplessly watch them suffer.

Our youngest son, now five, developed severe eczema when he was just two months old.  We allowed one round of an oral steroid and half a tube of cortisone cream before learning that his condition was chronic and the drugs, if they were to get rid of the eczema symptoms, would be a permanent part of his life.  So would be the terrible side effects of the drugs if we continued to give them to him. 

So we chose to stop.  We refused to give these life altering drugs to our baby.

We were learning more about nutrition, drugs, whole body health at that time.  Through MUCH trial, error and prayer…we found a few things that helped him.  There was NO quick fix because it has been a matter of healing his body from the inside out.  Some of the things we did helped immediately (like changing detergents and soaps), but overall healing is STILL taking place five years later.  I wish I could tell you otherwise. 

I want to share these ideas with you…not because I’m just SURE they’ll help your child.  Every child and every eczema case is different.  Plus, I’m not a doctor…I’m just a mama. 

And please no matter what your opinion is about drugs, can you please not leave a comment chewing us out because we didn’t give them to our son.  I’ve had enough criticism about our choices to last…forever.  Thanks.

Remember, we learned that eczema is not merely a skin issue…there’s much more to it than that.  But, here are the best changes we’ve made and the best products we’ve found to help our son Malachi with his eczema symptoms:

1. We began eating organic, natural and unprocessed whole foods.  You’ll read more about all of this (all over my site), specifically in my Journey to Healthy Eating series.  We specifically kept Malachi away from grains and sugar for quite a while to help his immune system and to help with his digestion.
2. We found this fragrance and dye free laundry detergent from Shaklee to be the best and only one that would not make his rash worse.  Many people have suggested that we make our own detergent, but I have yet to see a homemade detergent without borax as an ingredient, and I’m not convinced that borax is okay for our skin.
3. We use only pure coconut soap from Tropical Traditions.
4. Lotion in general just doesn’t offer much comfort for Malachi’s dry itchy skin.  IF we use lotion, we use this fragrance free lotion from Tropical Traditions.    We’ve found that straight coconut oil works much much better. 
5. We started supplementing him with Black Current Seed Oil that we got from our chiropractor.  Malachi takes it orally, plus we open up a tab and rub the oil onto his worst sores.  This has been a HUGE help for his overall healing (digestive system healing) and I’ll talk more about it in my Journey to Healthy Eating series.
6. Speaking of chiropractors, we try to take Malachi in for regular chiropractic adjustments.  If his body is in alignment, he does better.  Plus, our chiropractor focuses on nutrition, allergies and needed supplements.
7. We limit the baths.  The water seems to dry his skin more, so once or twice a week is his limit.  Faithfully after a bath, we slather him with coconut oil.
8. He wears mostly 100% cotton clothing so his skin can “breathe” better.
9. We clean the house either with good old fashioned water and vinegar…or Basic H from Shaklee.  We have NO toxic cleaners in our house anymore.  Read here about all of the soaps and cleaners we use.
10. Allergy testing…and desensitizing.  Our chiropractor tested Malachi, then one by one he desensitized him for any allergies that he was showing a sign of.  We were surprised that as he got older, different allergies showed up that hadn’t when he was tiny.  It never hurts to try again.  (P.S.  The desensitizing process is super simple and painless…just a little different if you’re used to conventional methods of doctoring.  Here’s a link my chiropractor directed me to, explaining more about this process.  Not that I completely understand it.  But it did help Malachi quite a bit.)
11. I can’t say enough about this one:  SUNSHINE.  We completely avoid sunscreen because it makes Malachi break out terribly.  However, the sunshine makes his rash SO much better.  Summer is our favorite time of the year.  He always feels so much better in the summer when he’s in the sun.  We just make sure he’s in the sun long enough to grab some good vitamin D…but not long enough to get a sunburn.  We call it the “in the sun…out of the sun…in the sun…out of the sun…” method.
12. Prayer, prayer, prayer.  God is the ultimate healer and we are so thankful to know that He loves Malachi even more than we do.

Ultimately, we have found that eczema or not…using high quality products in our home for cleaning and eating high quality unprocessed foods is best for all of us!  We are so thankful for the changes we’ve made for our family…and for the relief Malachi has found as well!

Now that Malachi is five, his eczema is SO much better.  The worst area is on his legs, and we’re hoping that once the sun starts shining a little more regularly again and he can be out in it…his legs will clear up more.  His cheeks are now SO SOFT that I CAN’T stop kissing them.  And he just lets me…great little accommodating guy that he is.

If you know of any other great, natural remedies for eczema, please leave a comment letting us know.  I’d love for this post and all the comments to be a great resource for parents looking for answers!

P.S.  If you’re interested in trying any of the products from Tropical Traditions I mentioned in this post, click here to read about how you can receive a free book from TT about the great benefits of coconut oil.

If I can brace myself for the stinky socks hiding under the beds and thirty-second-toot-tag…

(Explanation:  One boy toots and approximately thirty seconds later another one feels as though he’s been ”tagged” to toot…and then thirty seconds later…yeah you get it.  Four boys, remember?  And NO I’m not feeding them sugar free ice cream.  Far from it.)

Anyway, if I can get over the hidden stinky socks and thirty-second-toot-tag…I love getting my boys all snuggled into their blankets at night and reading a chapter of our latest read-aloud book.

They love it.  They beg for it.  They actually hurry up and get their teeth brushed so that we’ll have time for it.

One of our favorite books…one that they ask for over and over…is this one:

Kingdom Parables was a gift from a grandparent a few years ago and the boys just LOVE it.  The author re-wrote several different parables of Jesus using animals as characters and understandable situations that kids can relate to.  Then, the actual Biblical account is written at the end of each “story” so kids and parents can discuss the “real version”…and so that we can talk about how to apply Jesus’ teaching to our lives.

I love this book…and wanted to let you know about it in case you’ve never seen it before.  Kingdom Parables…check it out. 

The beauty of this book and it’s stories overshadows the effect of Thirty-Second-Toot-Tag.  That’s why I keep going back for more.  That and the fact that even though my boys’ room smells like a boys’ room…there’s nothing much better than our nightly snuggle time.

So, what are your favorite read-aloud books?
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This post is linked to Works for me Wednesday.

Continuing on from yesterday’s post please welcome again Cheryl from Moms in Need of Mercy as she guests posts more about cutting little boys’ hair!
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As moms in need of mercy in all walks of life, when we can find ways of doing things ourselves instead of paying someone else to do them for us, we can save lots of money. Replacing a $10 haircut a month with one at home will save $120 dollars a year–and that’s just for one son. How’s that for inspiring!

When we talk about cutting our sons’ hair ourselves, I find clippers less intimidating and more forgiving than scissors. Stick the guard on (I use a longer one for the top and front, a shorter one for the back and sides), slide it carefully through the hair, blend with scissors, voila–you have a fairly decent haircut. But since my friend Liz is the trained cosmetologist and I am just the amateur, let’s go with what she says when it comes to clipper cuts!

Whereas with a scissor cut, you start with damp hair; with a clipper cut, the hair needs to be perfectly dry.

In Liz’s professional opinion, using a guard higher than a number four (or a half-inch) is just about worthless. She says the clippers will miss so many hairs that you might as well just use your scissors and follow those angles that we talked about in yesterday’s post.

So plug those clippers in, and let’s get to work!

So we work around the head this way and wind up with that “dog at the groomer’s” look. Wonderful, isn’t it? Depending on how your son is behaving that day, you could stop there, or do the right thing and finish it. Making everything even is the art and science of blending, which comes later.

The next step is to blend the sides and back by pulling the hair straight out and cutting it parallel to the shape of the head, as the pictures below illustrate.

Remember how I promised to show you how I give my boys’ haircuts…and then just at the moment I had my long-haired boys all lined up for haircuts and pictures…my camera batteries died?  While we’re waiting for my boys’ hair to grow back for the photo op, Cheryl from Moms in Need of Mercy offered to guest post on this subject for us!  And she got her PROFESSIONAL cosmetologist to help us out!   

Eventually I’ll be able to show you a video tutorial of how I cut my boys’ hair…but in the meantime…this picture tutorial from Cheryl is awesome!!
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When thinking about giving your son a haircut, do you:
a) shudder at the thought of what it might look like if you did it yourself,
b) reach for your scissors with a glint in your eye,
c) reach for your phone to make an appointment for him,
d) wish you knew more of what you were doing, so you weren’t just “winging” it (come to think of it, he kind of looks like he has wings when you’re done)

Haircuts, even for boys, are expensive. As often as their hair grows, this adds up to some serious cash. But if you know how to cut your son’s hair at home, and you know how to do it right, both of you will be pleased. He’ll be pleased at the result, and you’ll be pleased with how much you’re saving by doing it yourself.

If you’ve ever wanted professional lessons on how to cut his hair by yourself, my friend Liz–a licensed cosmetologist–agreed to show me (and you) the tricks of the trade.  Normally, these lessons would cost you a partial cosmetology school tuition, but we are bringing them to you free! Now go pour yourself an ice water on me, and let’s get to work!

As you can see from the above picture, cutting hair successfully is all about the angles. To begin, you may want to start with the neckline. (Liz thought that beginners may want to start at the top. This way, you can set the top length as your guide and blend down from it, rather than having to cut everything again if it doesn’t blend properly when you get to the top last).

But let’s say you start at the neckline. Working on the back of the head, starting from the area of the top of the ear down, use your water bottle ($1 at the Dollar Store/Walmart/Target) to spray the hair down and cut at a 45-degree angle, slanting toward the neckline. You will hold the hair according to this angle and cut along your fingers, as you can see in these pictures.

Once you have worked your way across the back of the head, you can use your scissors to carefully go straight across to form the base of the neckline. As you can see Liz demonstrating, you want to make sure to hold the hair down firmly so you cut it evenly.
Liz says if you are right or left-eye dominant, it could make your haircut slant. So when you finish the neckline, get eye level with it and check that it does not slant. If it does, correct it!

Just as your child’s patience has about reached its limit, you will reach the top. Reassure him that you’re almost done and you’ll give him a reward for sitting so nicely (or not so nicely!) when you’re finished. Take the hair from the center of the top of the head, lift it up, and cut it straight across. If the very front of the forehead looks too choppy when you’re done, you can point-cut it. This is where you will use the point of your scissors to cut small points in the hairline (you don’t want it to look like candy-corn)

If your son has cowlicks at the top of their head (mine do), you can leave the hair longer here to compensate. The extra weight will help prevent it from sticking straight up. To accomplish this, you will want to angle the hair slightly toward the front.

Now you’re just about done! The only thing left is to check the cut to make sure it’s even. You should be able to run your fingers through the hair, pull up various sections, and have the lengths line up evenly (angling in places, but with no long hairs jutting out). It should be well blended. Correct any mistakes you find, and try again in another 3-4 weeks, depending on how quickly your son’s hair grows!

Click here to see how to give a clipper cut as well as how to properly use clippers to help take out some of the bulk in a standard haircut.
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This post is linked to Frugal Fridays.

For the past month or so I’ve been on the edge.  Ask anyone who lives near me.  They will tell you that I’ve barely been able to complete a sentence, much less hold a conversation. 

This time of year is always the busiest for our family.  Soccer is in full swing, both for Matt’s college team and for all four of our boys.  School has started.  The tomatoes, green beans, corn, apples, peaches, peppers, and grapes are all demanding to be dealt with right now. 

Throw in the fact that I also had house guests and a couple of out of town trips to take in the midst of this. 

Oh, and I also have a website. 

AND, Matt is in the midst of a job transition which I will hopefully tell you more about soon.

I’ve seriously been tense.  Don’t get me wrong…I’ve enjoyed every last bit of my month of crazy activity.   I just have a lot on my plate…plus I have raisins stuck to my floor under the kitchen table and I just can’t seem to get around to prying them off.

It may not come as a surprise then for me to say that lately my children have been driving me crazy.  Suddenly their noise seems noisier to me and their hunger seems hungrier and their needs seem needier. 

While trying to make my way through some big messy pots and pans one day last week, and feeling the pressure of everything else I needed to get done over the weekend in the midst of a soccer tournament…my boys were wrestling and building a fort (at the same time) and bringing more toys into the living room so that their fort would be complete.  I also noticed a big bowl of soup “cooking” on the living room end table.   The soup appeared to be something like a gallon of water with bunches of pepper sprinkled into it.  Great.  Just what I needed.  MORE messes.

With a big sigh I thought to myself, “These KIDS are driving me CRAZY!!!”

I hid myself in my kitchen with my hands in the dirty dish water and tried to take a few deep breaths to get ahold of myself. 

It was then God helped me realize that really and truly, it wasn’t my children that were driving me crazy.  They were being good.  Building a fort with lots of blankets and toys isn’t naughty.  Neither is wrestling around on the floor, since they were just doing it for fun and no one was getting hurt.  They were just providing themselves with their boyhood daily ration of wrestle time.  And the “soup”?  Water and pepper clean up easily enough.  And oh yes, these boys are old enough to clean it up themselves.

It wasn’t the kids that were driving me crazy at all.

No, the problem was really my own heart.  My lack of peace and joy were driving me crazy, not my kids.

While I thought I had been giving my stress and overwhelmed self to God the past few days, I really hadn’t been.  Oh I’d been praying, you can be sure of that.  But probably my prayers of “God, please let a friend call and invite my kids over to play so I can get some work done around here” didn’t really count as me taking time to sit at Jesus’ feet and reflect on what HE needed me to do for the day.

It’s amazing what a heart transplant will do.  Once God helped me figure out what the real problem was and I spent some time asking Him to transform my mind and heart…my life and household were suddenly much more peaceful and enjoyable.

Suddenly the kids weren’t driving me crazy anymore…yet they had not changed anything about their activity (or hunger or neediness). 

I’ve decided that “These kids are driving me crazy!” is another lie Satan wants women to believe.

Next time I feel like my kids are driving me crazy…I’m going to do a heart check. 

And then I’m going to crawl into a fort with my kids and enjoy a nice bowl of pepper soup.
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This post is linked to Works for me Wednesday.