20 Comments
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Sarah Wheeler's avatar

Miranda you know I like the squeeze bottle! When I'm my best self. I do it preventively and I even bought some fancy salts from the herb/witch store!

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Megan Bray's avatar

I'm in Massachusetts. My kids are 6 and 3. I have never used a Neti pot -- saline nasal spray is my go-to!

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Miranda's avatar

I saline spray too! I feel like saline nose spray market has gotten really deluxe between the birth of my first kid and my second, (ours are roughly the same age, it looks like) and I’m into it.

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Ariana Hendrix's avatar

Hello! I want to be friends with all of your cool literary mom nerd listeners too!

I live Oslo, Norway but am from Traverse City, MI. My kids are 5 and 1. I’ve had only one cough this fall, which seems suspicious. I eat citrus, and when I’m realllly worried an illness is on its way, I drink one of those Emergen-C powders. Though after hearing Miranda say on the last episode that Vitamin C doesn’t do anything (which I googled and 🤯 seems to be true), I guess it’s time to dust off my Neti pot! Still going to keep eating oranges as a placebo though because they’re delicious.

Nice to “meet” everyone!

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Sarah Wheeler's avatar

I'm still distraught over this vitamin c scandal

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Miranda's avatar

"seems suspicious" is exactly it. Of course, since posting this I now definitely have a cold.

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Kathryn Barbash, PsyD's avatar

I ate an orange a day this fall as some kind of proactive germ fighting strategy??? I just got slammed by illnesses last year so that was my strategy.

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Angela's avatar

I'm in Indiana. My twins are 9. Scared of brain eating amoeba in Neti pot water, so I stick to saline nasal spray.

My sickness avoidance move is working from home and rarely leaving my lair/ house. But otherwise; grocery pick up and delivery and regular Epsom salt baths are tools in my kit.

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Miranda's avatar

I too am terrified of amoebas (lakes are basically ruined for me) but I boil the heck out of the water so I think it’s ok? Oh god I hope it is. +1 for empsom baths, i forgot about those!

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Sarah Wheeler's avatar

Wait, amoeba what??!

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wellint0nb00ts's avatar

I’m from Manchester in the UK and I found the podcast via Lucy Jones, author of matrescense. My kids are 1 and 3, I started listening to the podcast on my drive into work after my going back from my 2nd maternity leave… the moment when I close the front door, get in my car with a coffee and start listening is HEAVEN and feels like such a treat! The conversations you have mean a lot to me and to a lot of other mums I’m sure.

Anyway I’ve lost count of the number of colds I’ve had this school year 🤣 seems like I only get a day or 2 between when one ends and the next one starts… and I didn’t know there was anyway to prevent them I thought this was just life with young snotty kids!!

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Sarah Wheeler's avatar

So honored to be part of your coffee ritual! I'm really afraid to put in writing that I haven't had a cold yet this season. There it happened. I will be sick tomorrow.

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The Mother Of It All's avatar

This means so much to hear, thank you for sharing all of it. Keeping other parents company is the dream, really (and each other!) Also Lucy Jones — what a gift of a human!

I don't actually know if any of these 'tricks' are working, but they kind of make me feel better? Who knows — being sick constantly does seem to just be part of the whole parenting deal. 😅

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Veronica O’Hern's avatar

I believe you once described your target audience as literary mom nerds and I thought yes! these are my people. Here are mine:

Iowa

4 and 6 years old

Colds seems like a distant memory after 4 weeks of child stomach bugs (fml)

Elderberry syrup for life!

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Miranda's avatar

Four weeks!!! 😱😱you win the trophy. And yes elderberry— I love that stuff.

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Caroline Calvert's avatar

Hi from Evanston, IL, where we just moved from Oakland, CA! My daughter is sixteen months. I am warding off cold #3 at the moment … she has had a runny nose since entering daycare at the start of November. I swear by Boiron ColdCalm, a mysterious European homeopathic remedy that my husband thinks is pure placebo. Love this community and am wondering if there any moms nearby!

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Miranda's avatar

Whatever works or feels like it's helping! When we're sick, I eat a lot of honey, and feed it to the kids. I have no idea if it does anything other than soothe me, which is not nothing.

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Sarah Wheeler's avatar

Everyone cool is from Evanston, but come back to Oakland so we can hang out?! 🤣

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Kathryn Barbash, PsyD's avatar

I am in Pittsburgh, PA. My kids are 9, 7. 5 and 3. I had surgery in November so I was super cautious(probably over the top) in the weeks before to avoid having to reschedule, so this week is my first cold of the year...my son gifted it to me and then accused me of being dramatic last night when I said I was really tired because I had his cold. After 4 kids and many years of daycare and school, I am not sure there is any proper defense...just survival.

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Miranda's avatar

I suspect this is the best strategy, but I just fight it so hard, and want to believe that THIS YEAR all of my little tricks will work and I wont get sick. I spend so much time dreading colds and then when they hit, the reality is usually not so bad. It's like, oh this sucks a little but also it reminds me that it's not SO bad to cancel stuff. We'll just get on the couch and watch some movies.

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