baby's first acupuncture

I have done acupuncture for years. I find that it has helped build my immune system as well as relieve a lot of my tummy issues. The kid has been battling a cold for the past few days — that coughy, phlegmy, sneezy thing that seems to be going around — so I debated whether to go to my regular appointment yesterday or just hunker down. But she and I were getting stir-crazy by the afternoon, so I thought, what the heck, I'll bundle her up and take her along.

The acupuncturist I have been seeing lately is a mom (of three girls, one the same age as my daughter), and she took one look at the kid and asked me if I would consider letting her do a few acupuncture points on her, to help speed up the progress of the cold, shorten its duration. I told her it was totally up to the kid. I was surprised when she actually said yes. The acupuncturist was great, explaining every needle and what it would do. She's always gentle, I rarely feel a thing, but I think she was showing some extra TLC with my little one. Most of the points were on her legs and arms, but there was one point which she wanted to do, on the face, that is traditionally used to break up congestion. When the kid seemed a bit scared of that prospect she told her not to worry, and instead massaged the spot and then placed some magnets in the area.

The kid said she actually felt a bit better after the treatment, although the acupuncturist warned me that she might feel worse that night as the cold takes its course. The kid was delighted to hear that she  also advised that she stay home one more day (I had been leaning in that direction, but that clinched the deal). She had some dark circles under her eyes when we arrived and I had to note that they seemed to clear up during the treatment.

Can acupuncture (or anything) cure the common cold? Of course not. But it can ease the symptoms, which is wonderful, especially when the sufferer is a kid. My kid. I'm really proud of how open she was to the experience.

don't ask me what's in there ...

... because my acupuncture doctor can only tell me the Chinese names for most of the ingredients. But he gave me instructions to brew the tea, which is supposed to be good for an unsettled tummy (IBS) and damn if it doesn't seem to help a bit.

I recognize the hawthorn fruit (reddish in color) but the rest of the Chinese herbal ingredients are at the moment unfamiliar to me. I am definitely going to research this further, but it made me realize that a lot of what we buy and ingest is an act of faith. How closely do I read the ingredients of other things that I eat or drink?

anxious summer

I guess it's all just catching up with me. This summer I have been feeling out of sorts, nervous, tired. At first I thought I just had some summer flu, but my doc wasn't able to find any signs of infection. I think I just got run down after the school year, the two years, that we have been here in Florida.

My mom's dementia hasn't taken any major downturns, but there are noticeable differences from a year ago. She seems more frail, certain things she used to know, like where friends live, are completely gone. We had planned to take a trip to Orlando to visit my cousin in June, but at the last minute I freaked out about it, the hot weather, dealing with traveling with my mom while keeping the kid happy, my generally feeling crappy, and canceled it. Orlando's not going anywhere, and it would be smarter to go when it's not 90 degrees out. The kid took it well and my mom doesn't care — I'm the one feeling guilty and anxious that I'm giving my daughter a crappy summer.

I'm not, really — she's spending the time learning to swim in the pool, ride her bike. We've had fun outings and gone to the movies, etc. My doc suggested I was suffering from anxiety and should try to take some medicine short-term, which seems to help take the edge off, but then after two weeks, when I wasn't miraculously anxiety-free (is anyone?) she tried to up the ante with an anti-depressant. I took it just one night and thought I was going to die. Not for me. I'm still feeling a little jittery in the mornings (this was just a few days ago) — just one of those pills can throw you for a loop and hang around in your system, I guess. I've decided to stick with the first med for a few weeks and up my acupuncture visits.

My acupuncturist has also started to teach me tai chi, which I think will really help me too. I know I signed on for a hard job when we moved here, taking on my mom in addition to my daughter. It's just funny (not ha ha) to me that the time of the year when I am least busy, summer, is when the stress finally decided to hit the fan. I guess during the school year I'm too busy to let myself freak out. So this next month and a half, before she starts third grade, I am going to be working hard — on taking it easy.