Nov
4

The Girl Flu

by Sofia   -   in Random

We are all familiar with the term Man Flu. When guys get sick they tend to seem like they are about to drop dead. I actually happened to marry what seems like the healthiest man on the planet. I think he has had one flu since we have been together ( about 10 years now). So I don´t have so much personal experience of that. But I on the other half tend to always catch the girls bugs ( they had the flu last week). I´m telling you no matter how much you wash your hands or eat your vitamins it´s not very helpful when a sick kid climbs to your bed at night and puts her face in your face and then sneezes. Now I have completely lost my voice ( which seems to make everyone around me particularly happy except for the people calling me and telling me to stop talking and start texting).

A girl flu is so different from a man flu. When I get sick I want to make myself a nice nest in the bed. I take a hot bath with my favourite flu be gone bath product Cold And Flu Soak from C.O. Bigelow to open up my sinuses. Then I put on freshly laundered pj´s and my favourite cashmere socks. I make a nice pot of hot tea and then I cuddle up in bed with a good book, some movies, Netflix or read the latest glossy magazines so I can get them recycled. I take naps when I feel like I´m about to dose off. When the girls get home from daycare I invite them to join me in bed to play games ( we just got the scrabble junior!) or watch movies on their iPad ( if anything, a flu is a great excuse to not feel guilty about not role playing or crafting with the girls). At night I make myself a vin chaud ( I have probably told you it´s my moms cure for flus and colds and it seems to work quite well… if nothing else the red wine makes you feel a bit better).

Don´t you think a girl flu is so much better?! Although with all seriousness I must admit that taking pictures of my nest was “so straining” I had to take a nap after it.

Lattemamma

p.s. I have this book about scents at home that I absolutely love! It advices you to add a few drops of tea tree oil in a spray water bottle and spritz it around the house to cleanse the air if someone in the family has been sick. It also makes the air smell fresh ( if you can smell anything!).

p.p.s. Vin Chaud is a hot ( most often red) wine mixed with orange juice (and peel or slices), sugar or honey and some spices like cinnamon, cardamon and sometimes star aniseed or cloves. I just make mine with orange and honey. You can even mix a bit of hot water with the wine for a quick fix. The last trick is from a trip when there was a hot water kettle, minibar with a small red wine bottle and packets of sugar in the hotel room. It really helped before bedtime. My favourite vin chaud memory is from a trip to Marocco I took with my mom years ago. We were staying in Marrakesh in a fantastic boutique hotel owned by and architect. He had turned an old riad in to a gorgeous hotel with 9 rooms I think. It was a very cold night and my mom was feeling a bit under the weather so we ordered some vin chaud for her from the room service.  They came and lit up the fireplace right outside our room for us and there we were sipping the hot wine and feeling instantly better. We felt like we were in a storybook with all the little candles and rose petals floating in the small fountains and the fireplace crackling. ( You can see pictures of the hotel here if you’d like).