It's itchy season again...

After an amazing eczema-free winter, I should have expected this. As the temperatures climb, and the girls have more skin exposed, and they are playing outside more often, their skin is gradually getting worse and worse. Sending me on a quest to fix it, when there isn't really anything I can do but treat it. We've gotten to a good place in management, and the cause is without a doubt external - it's not soap, laundry powder, or food-related. It's normal childhood, long happy days getting grubby outside. Sigh. C had a scratch-fest at preschool yesterday, and her teacher told me that it has to be covered up when the skin is broken and weepy. That's a bit of a pain, when you consider that if she wears jeans and long sleeves, she's hot (and itchy). If I bandage it, she'll be fiddling with it all day trying to scratch. If I give her antihistamines, her immune system takes a nosedive and then she's got preschool bugs and will pass it on to the rest of us. P had a scratch-fest yesterday as well, making her ankles bleed and weep. She's so affected that she's actually adapted her gait to accommodate tight, sore skin on her ankles. We gave them both a dose of Phenergan last night, in an effort to give them a night of sound sleep with no scratching, and at least that worked as intended. Evening Primrose oil works wonders, but isn't really practical for the daytime, as it will get all over the place instead of soaking into the skin. We opted for cortisone cream last night, it was that bad.
I'm a great mother - but their eczema makes me feel as though I'm not. Or makes me feel as though other people (strangers) might see it and think I'm neglectful, or careless. Which I'm so not - I've spent hundreds of dollars in special products to treat it, I've tried dietary restrictions, I've changed my detergents, soaps, and so on. And what we have at the end of it is two kids who are allergic to outdoors, who love the outdoors. And there's not a whole heck of a lot I can do but moisturise the daylights out of them, and try to minimise their discomfort, and pray that they will grow out of it.

XO,
Sarah