It makes sense to get sick in the winter, when it’s cold outside and the air is totally dry because you’re running the heater all the time. But summer bugs? Come on!

When I picked him up from school Friday and one of the other kids had puked in the main room, I suspected we wouldn’t get away unscathed. Cavanaugh’s fever started yesterday as did his complaints of a “rumbly” tummy. I ground Pedialyte popsicles into slush and fed them to him while he lay on the couch for seven hours.

Man, this kid is such a good sick person. He doesn’t get grumpy or whiny. He doesn’t get mad, though he occasionally refuses medicine. Who could blame him? The way some of the kid’s medicines smells is enough to make anyone just say no. His big request was that he be carried. Yes, I can do that.

We brought a bowl into bed “just in case” and Cavanaugh’s fevered little body slept through the night. When he woke up, he grabbed the bowl and I was sure we were in for it. He kept putting his head into the bowl and opening his mouth. No gagging. No puking. So, I tried the pressure points on his wrists. They help with queasiness and motion sickness. I have acupressure bracelets to wear on airplanes that stimulate the same point.

I wasn’t going to give him medicine to keep him from throwing up or diarrhea because the germs need to get out. I didn’t give him fever medicine because his fever wasn’t too high and the temperature helps kill the germs. Besides spooning slushy popsicles and cuddling, the pressure points were all I could think of to help and I so wanted to help my boy feel better. We just lay in the bed and I alternated wrists then held both. I showed him how to hold his own wrist.

Who knows if that actually worked or we just got super lucky–please, lords of sickness and karma don’t smite us with further infection–but he got out of bed feeling better. He still had a slight fever and I didn’t want to risk sending him to school if he had another wave of awful, but he got progressively sillier and more wiggly throughout the day. He was clearly feeling better by this afternoon.

So popsicles and pressure points were our remedy today. How about you? What are your favorite alternative remedies for kid’s viruses?