spring

Mom cleanaturalady couldn't have put it any better than she did in her "Spring has Sprung" journal post: "The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, the trees are starting to re-bud.  It is a wonderful time of renewal and refreshment. Unless you happen to be a 12-year-old kid with severe allergies and asthma."

She's right. Children who suffer from allergies and asthma often have the worst attacks in the spring. Although the season is a time for outdoor activities and fun, for many kids it can also be a reminder of their debilitating condition. Throughout the year, cleanaturalady's son, often tries to go without his preventative medicine, but this spring at an exam before joining the Boys Scouts, his peak flow (a measurement of how much air the lungs can push) was very low--and he was forced to deal with the fact that the medicine is not an option but necessity.

"The doctor came in and explained to him that the reason he had so much mucus in his throat was because his allergies were causing it, " mom writes. "He explained that the secretions were the body's defense against the allergens that he was breathing. I sat and listened, hoping that the doctor could impress upon him the importance of taking his preventative medications better than I could. When he told my son that the lungs of a person with uncontrolled Asthma look like the lungs of a smoker, I think that he understood how important it is to take the medication every day."

Do you children have allergies or asthma? Is it worse in the spring? Are they on meds to control the symptoms?