chicken pox pie

so yesterday i spent a huge chunk of time sewing tashi a halloween costume. i'm not one of these people who grew up with a sewing machine in the house. i did horribly sewing an apron in my high school sewing class. i've never used my sewing machine for anything but mending tears and stitching square dream pillows. but let me tell you, i did a great job on tashi's cat costume. it's made of shimmery black velvet, edged with white fuzzy trim and has a wirey stuffed tail tipped with more white fuzzy trim. tashi was very pleased with it, but unfortunately she won't get to sport it this year. just before bed last night she announced to us that she has the chicken pox. i lifted up her shirt and sure enough the tell tale spots covered her chest. poor kid. all month she's been counting down the days to candy madness.

how to relieve the suffering caused by chicken pox on halloween weekend (things i have tried or will try before the week is up):

fill a large cotton sock half way with dried rolled oats. tie it off. place kid and sock in warm bath and let them smear, squeeze and drip the sock seeping with oat milk all over themselves. let them hang out in the tub with the sock for as long as they wish.

play lots of board games.

give them rhus toxidodendron, a homeopathic also used to relieve the symptoms of poison ivy.

read lots of books.

apply calendula lotion, salve or oil.

tell appalachian ghost stories.

have child bathe in an infusion of burdock and comfrey.

carve pumpkin, place candle in it and watch shadows dance on walls of dark room.

let the child fan themselves. the breeze is a way of itching without irritating the skin.

pick plantain from your yard. cut up the leaves and make a strong infusion. freeze the infusion in an ice tray. apply plantain ice cubes to itchy areas (copyright me).

feed your child chicken pot pie.

watch carefully selected videos with nice nature scenes.

wear a mask and go trick or treating for your child so that s/he still gets a fat bag of candy.

don't feed your ill child candy.

talk about the true meaning of halloween. that it's the ancient celtic new year, the night when the veil between the living and the dead is thinnest. that people used to burn candles and leave out food so the dead would pay them a visit. call it samhain (sow-when) and make sure they know that it's the christians who demonized halloween.

allow your child to dance around the room, huffing and puffing, in an itchy frenzy, as if possessed by said demons.

sew and stuff a black cat pillow out of left over costume fabric. add some lavender to the stuffing to encourage relaxation.

give your child chamomile tea before bed time, sing lots of lullabyes and then write in your blog while hoping s/he is drifting off into a blissful slumber.

any other suggestions?