Remedies To Support Mum During School Holidays
If school holidays causes you a fair bit of apprehension, check out these remedies to see if they might be right for you in this time.
Bambusa
Made from bamboo, this remedy actually has a symptom in the books ‘feeling of being stressed, especially by one’s children’.
What a great symptom! Bambusa needs support, feels irritable and stressed and overwhelmed by everything. You might notice that you’re leaning on counters or on your hands, needing that extra support to keep your body up. You could be doing the ‘manic laughter’ thing and feel drained of energy. Stiff and painful necks are also a big symptom of this remedy.
Bambusa is full of silica which is a necessary mineral for our bones and structure.
The one thing to be wary of with this remedy is that if you have back issues it might be contraindicated for you, and could cause more discomfort.
My Story
I attended the Homeopath’s Dunedin Conference many years ago. At that time my children were much younger. At the time, any time I went away, my kids would come down with an illness. This time, I got the call to say the kids had chicken pox! I was already bleary-eyed and exhausted from managing to leave my family to attend conference, and I started panicking that I would have to get home urgently. So, I took a dose of Bamboo. What a difference! I sat up straight, felt energised and clear-headed enough to know my kids were in the most excellent hands of my mother (who better to nurse them through other than myself!) and after prescribing some remedies for the kids, I went on to thoroughly enjoy the conference and the company of my homeopath friends.
Sepia
This remedy is a great hormone remedy for women. Feeling irritable, tired, snappy (whether or not you’re expressing it or just feeling it inside). Most importantly, you have a desparate need for some time to yourself. If you want to murder your husband, or run away and live on an island away from your kids, and there is are hormonal issues in the picture, then Sepia is a great remedy to try. Sepia can help regulate hormones as well as just help you feel better within yourself. This means you can enjoy your family (and not have to run away, which is good because travel is expensive right now).
Pulsatilla
Pulsatilla is another lovely hormone remedy. Usually, you’ll feel weepy and be thinking things like ‘no one helps me, I’m all alone’. Pulsatilla feels very unsupported and emotional with that. You could oscillate between being irritable and bursting into tears, or just be walking around feeling sad and alone. Bring in hormones (think ovulation, PMS, periods) and if this sounds like you, you could feel much better by taking a dose.
Pulsatilla is also one of the most useful remedies for kids who struggle to return to kindy or school, cling to mum and cry. Try giving a dose or two before you get to drop off.
Arsenicum
Not so specific to kids, but a great anxiety and overwhelm remedy. Often, I go into an Arsenicum state when I have people coming to stay. Suddenly there is so much to do, so much to clean! There is a desire to have everything in order and perfect in Arsenicum, and driving oneself nuts doing it. In fact, Arsenicum will start flapping around the house, all in a tither and trying to do six things at once. As a result, nothing really gets finished and the task list gets longer. This is a remedy for anxiety and panic attacks and there will be some high energy about it (we call it ‘restlessness’). Arsenicum calms the mind and helps the person to see what really needs doing. It helps alleviate the need for perfection and helps you to just stick with doing one thing at a time.
