Help with battling the summer heat!

We have a bad heat wave here right now- the city was 102 degrees Wednesday!! That's extremely unusual since the city is surrounded on three sides by water. But considering it was 102 there, it was nearly 106 here in my town. Now that summer is officially here, I though I would share with everyone some tips I came across in the July edition of Family Circle (FC), as well as a few things I do myself to keep cool.

Sunburn solutions (from FC) :

• For the itchy sunburn- dry oatmeal wrapped in cheesecloth. Run it under cool water, then wring it out and apply to the sunburn.
• Reducing the redness- soak a washcloth in buttermilk, then apply to the spot for 20 minutes. This should be repeated every two hours.
• For your sunburned eyelids (yep it can happen!!)- make yourself some cold black tea or green tea! Use two tea bags, soak them in the water, then squeeze them and place the bags on your eyelids.
• General pain- Draw yourself a lukewarm bath. Pour 1/4 cup baking soda or cornstarch, then get in and soak yourself!

A great solution from me: just three little words- TEA TREE OIL!! This is a product I swear by!! When I spent the day at my husband's soccer game last summer, I unfortunately burned the heck out of my upper back and neck. Luckily I had some tea tree oil on hand. Liberally apply the oil to all affected areas, minimum twice a day. You may want to apply it more than twice a day, but make sure you do apply the oil immediatly after taking a shower. Tea tree oil has some amazing healing powers, and will keep your skin soft, and help reduce the healing time. Not to mention that your skin is less likely to peel!

To keep yourself cool- make sure you drink plenty of liquid, water is the best. When it comes to your kids, the recommendation is that they should be drinking 6 to 8 ounces of water every thirty minutes. I would recommend that for everyone, not just a child.

Most importantly, stay out of the sun during the hottest hours of the day. That is normally between 10am and 3pm, or so I've heard. I take my kids swimming in the early evening, like around 5pm, so that there is not as much sunlight reflecting off the pool. Luckily the pool where we live has a number of trees that create a nice shady area. Make sure that if you do go swimming that you apply a strong sunscreen. I've been told to apply an SPF of 30 at least thirty minutes before going outside, and apply again after one or two hours of swimming. Despite what the label says, no sunscreen is totally waterproof, or sweatproof for that matter. Younger children should have a higher SPF sunscreen, and babies should not be in the direct sunlight at all.

HAVE A WONDERFUL SUMMER!! Stay cool and sunburn free this year, and your body will thank you for it later on!! ;)