Since this blog is about Mommy Lessons in general, I will share what I learned as a mommy this past week. My daughter is playing a lead role in a play and came down with a cold the night before opening. I was sick to my stomach and contacted past and present singing teachers, singers, actors, friends and family to gather any tips they had. AND WE TRIED EVERY ONE! That's my own scientific problem. It wasn't a true science project with a control variable. So I can't tell you what did it, but I will share with you my list of what I gathered and did so if you are in this situation, you can kick a cold quickly! She was a lot better by opening night and the next day back to her normal self. I was amazed. (Some may sound kooky, but friends advised them and we tried them all!)
- Eat healthy! The best thing you can do is raise your immune system and citrus foods are full of Vitamin C so they are even better. So my daughter ate tons of oranges, orange juice, apples, apple juice, carrots, fresh pineapple, spaghetti, etc.
- Sleep! I let my daughter sleep as much as possible and it was a huge help!
- Warm Liquids. The most common thing I was recommended to use is herbal tea coat and throat, but we tried other variances on warm liquids - warm chicken noodle soup and warm apple juice.
- WATER, WATER, WATER! My daughter drank so much water she had to go to the bathroom every hour, but it helped not only keep her better, but because she was singing, it helped keep her vocal cords stay moist as well. I threw lemon in the mix as well because I heard lemon and honey are wonderful tools for vocal cords.
- Zinc - we used cold eeze with lemon and honey coated in them for the same reason above.
- Hot water with honey and lemon - the citric in lemon boosts your immune system and the honey coats your vocal cords.
- Vitamins - just the daily dose, but again it boosts the immune system.
- Other medicinal recommendations were Riccoli, Emegen - C, Herbal supplement called Umcka (Bought at Whole Foods or a Natural Food Store), and Mucinex (apparently many medicines actually dry out your vocal cords, but Mucinex is an expectorant, not a decongestant).
- Entertainer's Secret Spray - Throat Relief - www.enteratiners-secret.com (highly recommended by a cast member and his vocal coach)
- Asea (Reddoxstory.com) - one of the production team members gave my daughter a spray form of this for her throat and the liquid form to take an ounce in the morning and an ounce at night. It "activates the body's own native ability to empire the immune system and enhance health." She drinks it everyday as a preventative tool.
- No physical exertion - we took the day off school, no playing or running. Simply relaxing.
- Humidifier - my daughter slept with a humidifier in her room and kept it running during her day off of school while relaxing.
- Saline Drops - you can put these literally in your nose and if you are daring, drain them through your nose and out your mouth (my daughter wouldn't go that far)
- Gargle listerine every day to kill germs - morning and night.
- NO Talking - give your voice a complete rest - whispering is even worse, so no whispering either.
- Warm steam regularly (3-5 minutes every 2-3 hours) - you can either of these: 1) Warm Showers or 2) Steam pot of boiling water over the stove and put a towel over your head to create a tent and keep the tent in. Let the steam come up into your nose and mouth. (I hear there's a product called a Nettie Pot that is warm water and salt in a "pot" that you put in your nostrils to clean out the sinuses. You can do this every day as a preventative method as well.)
- Lays Potato Chips - I heard this from 2 different sources, but apparently the salt in the chip pulls the mucus from your vocal cords.
- Certain candies are supposedly helpful - and as you can imagine, this was my daughter's FAVORITE remedy of all. I was told hot tamales keep your vocal cords warm. Werthers have always been my daughter's favorite because she feels like they coat her throat. I have also heard jolly ranchers do the same thing.
- A cast member told her to watch her warm ups carefully and warm up more nasally, to prevent hurting anything while your voice is tender. We found this to be very true and useful in our case.
- Prayers! This really should have been first, but I can't tell you how many dear friends, cast members and family were sending prayers up and I truly believe angels were there throughout her opening night :)
Am I missing anything? We did all of these things many times and in 36 hours, my daughter was like night and day! Please comment with any other ideas and I'll add them!
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