Battling Covid with kids around- Tips from my personal experience

You know what’s worse than handling a sick baby….well, that’s being sick yourself! And things turn a bit uglier when you are suspected of being COVID positive.

Our family got a rude shock few weeks back when my husband tested positive for COVID19. There was a gap of 3 days in onset of his symptoms and final report being out. So I knew to a large extent my kids and I had already been exposed to the virus and escaping it wouldn’t be an easy option there on.

When it comes to any sickness as a parent, the anxiety and dilemmas are very different- how will kids get their food, how will they be engaged etc etc. but when it’s about COVID, the fears are unparalleled.

Indeed the most fearful part of the whole experience was the unknown.

The battle begins

A week after my husband tested positive (and he was quarantined in another room), I developed my first symptom – high fever and sore throat. This was even after taking all necessary precautions and measures to keep virus at bay for myself and kids!

My first fear was about kids.

We are in this together :  the road to recovery

The most difficult and confusing decision was to reach a conclusion about whether I should be around kids and cook for them or make some arrangements and send them off to save them from the infection.

Frankly, I have always believed in the power of a mother’s touch. it is indeed the most healing medication a child can be given at such a stressful time and I would go as far as to say that it shall help the baby successfully cope with any virus or infection. This decision was validated by our pediatrician; though I observed basic precautions like wearing a mask at all times and washing my hands before handling the kids.

It was also a slight relief to learn that Covid19 is a little “kinder” to children and the symptoms to watch out for are primarily mild fever and lethargy.

Another dilemma was whether we should get kids tested or not. We opted for not going ahead with their test as I did not want unnecessary exposure for them. Moreover I wanted to avoid the trauma for them of going through the swab test.

We got hold of multi vitamins and stocked basic medicines for kids should they show any symptoms.

Later that day, as expected, both the kids started having fever and droopy eyes. I went ahead as per doctor’s recommendations with the medicines and kept a close check on their temperature and other vitals.

Home remedies we trusted

Besides that, I also added a few desi nuskhe to our daily schedule that day onwards, like-

1. Steam inhalation three-four times a day (for kids as well as us)
2. Regular sipping of warm water
3. Herbal tea/ ‘Kadha’ prepared using tulsi leaves, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, ashwagandha, mulethi, giloy and cloves. All these ingredients are known to play an important role in fighting any illness and increase the body’s immunity
4. Gargles with water boiled with raw turmeric and salt thrice a day
5. Haldi wala doodh for kids
6. A well-balanced diet including fruits, nuts, proteins and salads

Apart from the above remedies, we religiously practised deep breathing every morning for a minimum of 10 minutes. Thankfully kids had learnt about this in their school and understood the technique quite fast. This not only helped as breathing exercise that’s recommended during COVID19, but also helped us be calmer and feel less anxious as a family.

And we fought it out : emerging victorious!

With no interaction with the outside world and fighting an unknown enemy, I can surely say that the coronavirus attacks one’s mind more than the body. We were looking for every way to attract positive thoughts. I remember peeping through the window every morning. Outside that window—a neem tree, birds and butterflies, and the reassurance that another world existed was more than enough to give us strength each day. We also tried to keep relaxing music (white noise) on at most times during the day to raise the vibration of the place and surround ourselves with positive energy.

I sincerely urge to anyone who is COVID-19 positive or suspected COVID-19 positive to not panic and avoid sending ‘fear energy’ to your family, especially children. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is to not think, not wonder, not imagine and not question. Just breathe, and have faith that everything will work out for the best.

After we had come to terms with the reality that Coronavirus has very much entered our house and we could do nothing but deal with it, we did our best to brace ourselves to power through this time. We tried to look at it as an opportunity to find joy in the ordinary and utilized this time to rejuvenate our mind, body and soul together.

We listened to music, played online games, caught up on our favorite shows and beloved movies, ate our favorite (yet healthy) food and laughed a little harder. After all, life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain.

Go Mommy!