Wednesday, April 8, 2009

MAMMA VS MITES


ALLERGIES. The word that my world is revolving around. Every morning when I wake up I have a headache, and it's throughout my whole head- even face and neck. There is this specific sharp pain I get on the left side of my brain, and it's awful! I take a deep breath and it burns all the way down through my itchy throat and congested nose. Then I open my eyes and they burn so bad it feels like a handful of sand has been thrown in them, so I rub them and it feels SO GOOD! But when I pull my hands away I see 2 things: more eyelashes have fallen out from the rubbing, and my fingers have goop on them again from my eyes draining. Not to mention the vertigo I've had for the past month from an inner ear infection and the pressure pain in my ears from the outer ear infection that my doctor refuses to give me an antibiotic for. The call from a warm shower and my Allegra pills are the only 2 things that have the power to drag me out of bed. And that is how I start each day.

One day I woke up, anxious for my shower and pill- even though I knew they would only take the edge off- and I had an epiphany. I looked down at my limp victimized body and then stared at the invisible air, my captor. "I'm stronger, bigger, and smarter than you!" I yelled with all my heart. "And I'm going to defeat you!"

The next few hours were spent on the Internet researching the enemy and learning how to destroy them. First thing was first though- I had to kill the leader of them all, then I would deal with the little guys. So I focused on dust because that is what I'm most allergic to. Here are some photos I found about the enemy that lives in the dust-


This is what happens: Dust has dust mites, the disgusting critters above, and they are EVERYWHERE, including but not limited to: curtains, carpet, bedding, clothing, towels, car interiors, and our skin. They are the part of the dust that causes the allergies, well it's not exactly the mite, it's their feces- disgusting huh. The overwhelming part is that the mites are impossible to get rid of, but there is a means to fighting their left-overs, and living with these eight legged creatures in peace. So I began my attack.

1. Thought of a creative way to convince my kindergarten daughter that sterilizing the house in an exciting thing to do for spring break.
2. Took down the curtains and washed them in hot water. (The "dry-clean only" ones surprisingly came out of the washer and dryer looking great- despite their warning.)
3. Washed all the bedding in hot water. I am going to do this every week from now on.
4. Bought a new filter for my vacuum and gave the carpet an intense cleaning. I will get it professionally cleaned as soon as the tax return comes and I am done with all the deep cleaning.
5. I'm still washing all the windows, including all the metal and runners.
6. I'm still washing all the walls.
7. I will start dusting all the solid furnishings when I'm done with the walls.
8. I detail cleaned my car inside and out.
9. I use an air purifier at night when I sleep.

It's been a busy week and my kids are losing patience with my mad mission. However...I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER! And my house smells really yummy! Hopefully I can make it up to the kids soon.

p.s. I can see now why people with large homes hire out for deep cleaning.