What is wrong with me and how can I avoid feeling this way?

[mazakaal]

In October dh took over pastoring a church that is 1hr 15min from us. I didn't really want to uproot the kids and drive that far for church every week, but dh felt it was important for the church to have our whole family there. And there was no one to take over the Sunday school, so I've had to do that, teaching almost every Sunday.

 

The problem is that I get really sick from the drive. The first 45 minutes of the drive is very windy and hilly. I don't feel so bad on the way there, but the way home just about kills me. I get frequent, severe headaches, and I invariably get one every Sunday, possibly in part due to the fact that dh tosses and turns all night long on Saturday night, so I get a very bad sleep as well.

 

I thought that part of the problem could be that we don't end up getting out of church until 1:30 and I'm absolutely starving by then. So yesterday I brought a bag of fruit and nuts to snack on as soon as the service was over (12:30), hoping it would stave off the hunger. It worked to keep me from getting too hungry, but I still felt so ill that I collapsed in bed when we got home. I had also wondered if it would be better for me to do the driving, but that didn't help either.

 

Every week we're getting home around 3:30 in the afternoon. I collapse in bed with headache and nausea, maybe sleeping for a short time, but mostly just lying there feeling miserable for hours. I'll feel better sometime in the evening (7 or 8pm), but then I can't fall asleep at night because I've spent so much of the afternoon in bed.

 

Does anyone have any ideas about what could be making me feel so bad (I don't normally get severely carsick on long drives) or what I can do to feel better? The only thing I can think of is to sleep in the spare bed in dd's room on Saturday nights. Maybe getting a better sleep will help. Any other ideas?

[mumto2]

Do you eat a good breakfast before you leave? We have a long church day with a drive(just motorway) too and it is much easier when I eat first. No one else in my family does--sleep till the last second is their motto!

 

Can you do something to stay busy in the car? I am prone to motion sickness in the UK-- all the continual curves really bother me. I knit and for some odd reason can read a kindle usually. Keeping my mind off the fact that we are going really far to go to church helps. I want to add no problem with motion sickness in the US.

 

I hope you find a way to feel better on Sundays. I do understand alot of what you are going through--maybe that will help. I just can't believe that there is another American home ed mom stuck in a car in the UK on Sunday mornings!:lol:

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

[mazakaal]

Do you eat a good breakfast before you leave? We have a long church day with a drive(just motorway) too and it is much easier when I eat first. No one else in my family does--sleep till the last second is their motto!

 

I do make a good breakfast on Sundays; we've had the tradition of egg burritos for years.

 

Can you do something to stay busy in the car? I am prone to motion sickness in the UK-- all the continual curves really bother me. I knit and for some odd reason can read a kindle usually. Keeping my mind off the fact that we are going really far to go to church helps. I want to add no problem with motion sickness in the US.

 

Reading has always had a tendency to make me carsick unless I'm on a motorway, but when we first started this drive I used to bring a US presidents trivia game with us to play in the car. It never made me carsick, probably because I was just reading a short question and then waiting for an answer. I should try to bring that along again. And I'll try the knitting and Kindle as well.

 

I hope you find a way to feel better on Sundays. I do understand alot of what you are going through--maybe that will help. I just can't believe that there is another American home ed mom stuck in a car in the UK on Sunday mornings!:lol:

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

 

Thanks. That is very funny to think that you're having to make the long drive to church while I am. Misery loves company. ;)

 

What part of the UK in? If you don't mind my asking. I'm in North Cornwall.

Edited April 30, 2012 by MeganP

[lailasmum]

Could it be your vehicle?. I have a friend who recently changed vehicles from a big mpv with huge windows and tons of space to a smaller mpv with minimal space and normal car sized windows. They now all get car sick when they never did before. May be something to do with the road handling of the vehicle too.

[mazakaal]

That could be it. We're just in a regular hatchback (5-door). Dh's van has been in the shop for ages, but I felt ill in that too when we used it. But it wasn't a comfy mpv, just a big 6-seater cargo type van. I don't think I can justify purchasing a new vehicle, though. :001_smile:

[amo_mea_filiis.]

Have you ever done the driving?

 

I can't be a passenger with my father, ever just a few blocks into town. I always drive now.

[mazakaal]

Yes, I tried that yesterday. Still sick. :ack2: :001_huh:

[mumto2]

We are in S. Yorkshire.

 

I doubt it has anything to do with the car. Dh has had many leased cars here--full range. I get just as ill in luxury as I do in anything else! It is the roads with the slight slopes I think. In the States curves are usually flatter. Here you can be slightly tilted on a straight. Throw in curves and hills-- I am not feeling so good!

[Snickerdoodle]

I didn't really want to uproot the kids and drive that far for church every week, but dh felt it was important for the church to have our whole family there. And there was no one to take over the Sunday school, so I've had to do that, teaching almost every Sunday.

 

The problem is that I get really sick from the drive.

 

Well, perhaps you are still feeling like this wasn't your choice and you didn't want to have to move to this new church thus creating some kind of discord in your body.

[clarkacademy]

The thing that sticks out to me is that you are fine on the way there. This tells me it can't have to do with the car. Could there be something at the church? Lighting, chemicals, perfumes etc..?

[Cassy]

This is probably not helpful, but it sounds to me as though maybe all the time and effort involved is just the last straw for an already very busy homeschool mum. I know I couldn't do it, just reading about it made me feel nauseous :sad:. While I understand that Church is important on a Sunday for many people, Sunday is also supposed to be a day of rest, especially if you're working flat out the other six days. Could you maybe have the odd Sunday off, or find someone else to give you break from Sunday School?

 

Cassy

[Chris in VA]

Could it be stress?

:grouphug:

 

You can wear a seaband for the nausea.

 

I'd sleep in the other room, and find a partner to do Sunday School with.

[Mama Geek]

I would skip the fruit and try to come up with another source of protein for a snack, sleep in a different room on Saturday night, and find someone else to do Sunday School. If Sunday School isn't something important enough for someone from the church to volunteer for maybe they shouldn't have it.

[mazakaal]

Well, perhaps you are still feeling like this wasn't your choice and you didn't want to have to move to this new church thus creating some kind of discord in your body.

 

This is a possibility. But, if so, what do I do about it?

 

The thing that sticks out to me is that you are fine on the way there. This tells me it can't have to do with the car. Could there be something at the church? Lighting, chemicals, perfumes etc..?

 

The church meets in a school building that underwent inspection recently, so I doubt there's anything physically in the building.

 

This is probably not helpful, but it sounds to me as though maybe all the time and effort involved is just the last straw for an already very busy homeschool mum. I know I couldn't do it, just reading about it made me feel nauseous :sad:. While I understand that Church is important on a Sunday for many people, Sunday is also supposed to be a day of rest, especially if you're working flat out the other six days. Could you maybe have the odd Sunday off, or find someone else to give you break from Sunday School?

 

Cassy

 

Last night dh said he thought it was just exhaustion from the whole week - homeschooling, driving the kids to activities, cooking, cleaning. I reminded him that never in all our years of homeschooling (except when I'm pregnant, which I'm not now) have I ever taken naps on a Sunday. I think you're right that it could just be a last straw for an already tired person. I took last Sunday off because dh was out of town, and I just wasn't going to drive that far with the kids on my own. But that doesn't solve the problem for the days that I don't have anyone to cover the Sunday school. And there's no one else to cover Sunday school. Two other people who were supposed to start serving once a month have both dropped out. So I will continue getting only one Sunday off per month. I have to find some solution that doesn't involve not going to church. I just can't keep losing 1/7 of my week.

[besroma]

We use Seabands for car sickness. A friend puts lemon wedges in a baggie and licks one when she is nauseated. Ginger is also good. You can buy ginger lozenges or crystallized ginger.

 

I hope it gets better.

[Zebra]

I read recently this idea that "Just because there is a need doesn't mean you're called." It was very profound to me.

 

It's something to think about. I know I have serious car sickness issues. And I wondering if you are so stressed out by the whole thing that (already being prone to car sickness) you just can't hold it together anymore on the ride home.

 

So what would I do? I would quit teaching Sunday school. Whether anyone likes it or not.

Edited April 30, 2012 by MeAmy

[atozmom]

Maybe you just need to have the Sunday School class every other week. Make it known that until someone steps up to share the load, that is the way it will have to be. On the days that you teach, make sure you take a break (before 12:30) to have a good protein snack. Ginger helps my daughter with car sickness, that and her ipod. On the way home, use an ipod/mp3 player (with ear buds) loaded with your favorite calming music,and kick back, close your eyes and enjoy the ride home. If you happen to fall asleep on the way home, all the better. Bring something quiet for the kids to do on the way home too. A little quiet down time after a busy day would be good for all.

[celticmom]

I would try using nasalcrome or something similiar before I went, but in my case it would almost definitely be inhalent allgeries. Just a note, It does not have to be health hazard or something that anyone else would even notice if you are allergic to a smell it will cause you problems.

[mazakaal]

Maybe you just need to have the Sunday School class every other week. Make it known that until someone steps up to share the load, that is the way it will have to be. On the days that you teach, make sure you take a break (before 12:30) to have a good protein snack. Ginger helps my daughter with car sickness, that and her ipod. On the way home, use an ipod/mp3 player (with ear buds) loaded with your favorite calming music,and kick back, close your eyes and enjoy the ride home. If you happen to fall asleep on the way home, all the better. Bring something quiet for the kids to do on the way home too. A little quiet down time after a busy day would be good for all.

 

How do you give her the ginger? Is it mixed in with something? Or is it a pill supplement you get from the health food store?

 

I don't have an ipod, but I can load some music onto dh's iphone and use that. I think I can load music onto my Kindle Fire, but I have no idea how. I'll have to check into that. Thanks.

[Leanna Tomlinson]

Could some of your symptoms, especially the headache and fatigue, be dehydration?

 

I used to feel very similar on our co-op days - completely wiped out and good for nothing after I got home at 2:00. My dh pointed out that I wasn't drinking at all during those days. I had to admit that I rarely visited the restroom while we were at co-op. Not drinking paired with the energy expended while teaching a class left me with a horrible headache and fatigue. Now I make myself carry a water bottle and sip it throughout the morning. I'm still tired after teaching, but the headaches and extreme fatigue are much better.

 

I know mild nausea can also keep me from drinking enough, so maybe the car ride makes you drink less, then you get to church and don't drink the rest of the morning?

[mazakaal]

I hadn't thought of that. I know that I have had headaches from dehydration in the past. I will make a point of drinking water while I'm there. Thanks.

[JFSinIL]

Your hubby may be a pastor for the far-away church, but he is also your husband and should take care of you, too. This may mean finding someone else to do Sunday school and not having you travel all the way to his church each Sunday since it is making you ill (the traveling, not the church itself) and wiping you out for the rest of the day. Unless Dramamine helps??? Or one of the above suggestions from other posters? I'd talk to him and tell him you are trying some of the WTMom's ideas for the next few weeks, but it nothing helps you will have to stop going in with him on Sundays.

[elegantlion]

I think it sounds like class motion sickness, headache and nausea that can wipe you out for the rest of the day. Do you change riding position in the car from morning to afternoon?

 

I have terrible motion sickness, if I eat before traveling on windy hilly road I will get sick.

 

Seabands can help, so can driving. Ironically I don't get sick if I'm driving. They make non-drowsy Dramamine, I would try that.

 

I usually eat saltines before a trip and keep either a 7up or Ginger Ale in the car. I make sure air is being circulated, I don't read, no heavy meals, and I have to keep my eyes on the road. I also sit up front. I also caution dh that he needs to take it easy on the curves. My dh tends to see hilly and winding as road race course (at much slower speeds of course).

[Starr]

You can't feed into your husbands stress about pastoring. It's hard to do I know. I like the idea of family worshipping together so I understand your husbands feelings about you going with him. Just your being there is important for his job but you don't have to do everything. I would try sleeping in the other room, eating well, take lunch, try a dramamine (take 1/2 an hour before leaving), and quit teaching Sunday School every week. I would also look for an open and go curriculum that doesn't take much work for Sunday School. :grouphug:

[Kim in Appalachia]

I have a few thoughts. I think it could be driving/motion sickness. It can affect you worse when you are tired or hungry. Also it could be the church building. I know my dd and I were both having issues for a while with the mold in the building. It made up both so ill. My dd had the added issue of the lights bothering her. She was getting migraines weekly. It could also be the stress. It is stressful, and it does take a toll on you. Don't discount that.

 

Most likely it is a combination of factors. I wish I could tell you how to fix it. Do make sure that you drive both ways. Do pack a decent lunch, one with protein and carbs to help keep your stomach settled. Do enjoy a nap when you get home. That drive can suck the life out of you. If you think mold could be an issue then take some sort of allergy med, like Allegra. It helps a little. My dd also carries Excedrin with her and takes it as soon as any hint of a headache starts.

 

:grouphug:

[mazakaal]

Your hubby may be a pastor for the far-away church, but he is also your husband and should take care of you, too. This may mean finding someone else to do Sunday school and not having you travel all the way to his church each Sunday since it is making you ill (the traveling, not the church itself) and wiping you out for the rest of the day. Unless Dramamine helps??? Or one of the above suggestions from other posters? I'd talk to him and tell him you are trying some of the WTMom's ideas for the next few weeks, but it nothing helps you will have to stop going in with him on Sundays.

 

This is pretty much where I'm at right now. I tried what I could think of (snack, driving myself), but nothing worked. So I thought I'd try to get some more ideas here, and if they didn't work, then I'd have to back out. I've already told him that I want to take one week off per month. We'll see how these ideas go and make a decision for the future after that.

[mazakaal]

I think it sounds like class motion sickness, headache and nausea that can wipe you out for the rest of the day. Do you change riding position in the car from morning to afternoon?

 

I have terrible motion sickness, if I eat before traveling on windy hilly road I will get sick.

 

Seabands can help, so can driving. Ironically I don't get sick if I'm driving. They make non-drowsy Dramamine, I would try that.

 

I usually eat saltines before a trip and keep either a 7up or Ginger Ale in the car. I make sure air is being circulated, I don't read, no heavy meals, and I have to keep my eyes on the road. I also sit up front. I also caution dh that he needs to take it easy on the curves. My dh tends to see hilly and winding as road race course (at much slower speeds of course).

 

I'll try the Seabands, but I don't really want to take Dramamine. I'm constantly popping medicine for my headaches and have just started a new prescription for the headaches. I don't want to put anything else in my body.

 

And unfortunately you can't buy Saltines here, the Ginger Ale is really gross (I miss Schwepps) and 7up is too syrupy.

 

You can't feed into your husbands stress about pastoring. It's hard to do I know. I like the idea of family worshipping together so I understand your husbands feelings about you going with him. Just your being there is important for his job but you don't have to do everything. I would try sleeping in the other room, eating well, take lunch, try a dramamine (take 1/2 an hour before leaving), and quit teaching Sunday School every week. I would also look for an open and go curriculum that doesn't take much work for Sunday School. :grouphug:

 

Thanks for your suggestions. I do use a pretty straightforward curriculum. I've managed to get prep time down to about an hour on Saturday, and there aren't a lot of materials to gather. It doesn't have any crafts either, which makes my life a lot easier. :001_smile:

[Gingerbread Mama]

My vote would be for getting more sleep. When I've not had enough rest, I tend to get sick to my stomach. I will be fine for several hours after getting up, and then just hit a wall sometime in the afternoon and feel like I'm going to vomit everywhere.

 

I agree that he needs to re-think this situation. If it is making you physically ill to go to this church every Sunday, then he needs to do some prioritizing. I would see nothing wrong with a pastor saying "I will stay with you until you find someone else, but this drive makes my wife terribly ill and we need to be able to worship together."

[mazakaal]

I have a few thoughts. I think it could be driving/motion sickness. It can affect you worse when you are tired or hungry. Also it could be the church building. I know my dd and I were both having issues for a while with the mold in the building. It made up both so ill. My dd had the added issue of the lights bothering her. She was getting migraines weekly. It could also be the stress. It is stressful, and it does take a toll on you. Don't discount that.

 

Most likely it is a combination of factors. I wish I could tell you how to fix it. Do make sure that you drive both ways. Do pack a decent lunch, one with protein and carbs to help keep your stomach settled. Do enjoy a nap when you get home. That drive can suck the life out of you. If you think mold could be an issue then take some sort of allergy med, like Allegra. It helps a little. My dd also carries Excedrin with her and takes it as soon as any hint of a headache starts.

 

:grouphug:

 

I don't really want to take any more medication (see previous post), but maybe I'll have to ask dr about an allergy med. I do take paracetemol for the headaches (a British version of Tylenol), but it doesn't always help.

[TravelingChris]

Are you outside at all after church? Is it sunny in that area?

 

 

It was when I was living in Belgium, also far north though not as far as Cornwall, that I found out that I was very sun sensitive. I get migraine headaches and get nauseas or worse with sun exposure. I know it was the sun, not heat, because it wasn't hot, just sunny.

[Shellers]

My DD16 has always suffered from car sickness. Her doctor recommended eating something before a trip, it gives the stomach something to do. He also recommended that I give her Benadryl before trips.

[Annie G]

I read recently this idea that "Just because there is a need doesn't mean you're called." It was very profound to me.

 

It's something to think about. I know I have serious car sickness issues. And I wondering if you are so stressed out by the whole thing that (already being prone to car sickness) you just can't hold it together anymore on the ride home.

 

So what would I do? I would quit teaching Sunday school. Whether anyone likes it or not.

 

That's a really good quote. I think I'll tattoo it on my oldest daughter's arm. Her dh is a pastor and she can't seem to say no when the church needs someone to do something.

 

I agree that stress and car sickness combined might be causing this, but also think the number of headaches you have might also be a clue.

 

And as for the building- a friend's dh couldn't even go into their church when they got a new cabinet to store books- it had formaldehyde in it and he reacted so strongly while the rest of us didn't smell a thing.

[Julie in CA]

Honestly, this doesn't sound like it stems from an overtly physical cause, but rather some mental resentment.

 

If my dh were pastoring a church, I'd expect to live in the area of the church. If it were truly not possible to move, my dh would find another line of work until something became possible close to where we lived. It must be hard for him also, not to live close enough to minister to his flock on a more daily basis.

 

I think you need to move, or to ask him to step down. This is clearly not the right thing for your family, and there are slight inflections in your posts that make it clear you feel that way. I think that's a bigger issue that you two need to discuss. It doesn't really sound like car-sickness. :sad: :grouphug:

[Laura Corin]

... the Ginger Ale is really gross (I miss Schwepps) and 7up is too syrupy.

 

I don't know if you've noticed, but the UK has both Ginger Ale and Ginger Beer - they have different tastes and you might prefer the other kind.

 

On the other hand, FWIW my local Tesco also stocks Schweppes Canada Dry Ginger Ale - I don't know if it's the same recipe as you are used to.

 

Laura

[mumto2]

It is the e reader kindle that I can read in the car not the fire. I don't like reading books on the fire in general much less in the car!

 

I want to add we no longer go every week. At least one week off a month. No more evening service for our family too. We really try not to add too many responsibilities to the day--dh is not the pastor. So our drive is stress free compared to yours.

[mazakaal]

I don't know if you've noticed, but the UK has both Ginger Ale and Ginger Beer - they have different tastes and you might prefer the other kind.

 

On the other hand, FWIW my local Tesco also stocks Schweppes Canada Dry Ginger Ale - I don't know if it's the same recipe as you are used to.

 

Laura

 

What??????? I've only ever seen Tesco brand ginger ale, which was just vile. I'll have to look for Schweppes. I'm so excited!

 

I haven't tried Ginger Beer either. I'll give it a go.

[mazakaal]

It is the e reader kindle that I can read in the car not the fire. I don't like reading books on the fire in general much less in the car!

 

I want to add we no longer go every week. At least one week off a month. No more evening service for our family too. We really try not to add too many responsibilities to the day--dh is not the pastor. So our drive is stress free compared to yours.

 

I guess I could borrow ds's old-style Kindle and see if that helps.

 

Yeah, the drive home can be a bit stressful because we've just had to counsel people about all kinds of difficult situations. We don't have all that on our mind on the way there.

 

Yorkshire is beautiful. We usually go to York every year and spent a week in the Dales one year. Unfortunately it was crazy cold that week. We're going up again in June and we're going to go visit Fountains Abbey and Brimham Rocks. We went there years ago when dd was a baby. It's absolutely gorgeous.

[Julie Smith]

This is pretty much where I'm at right now. I tried what I could think of (snack, driving myself), but nothing worked. So I thought I'd try to get some more ideas here, and if they didn't work, then I'd have to back out. I've already told him that I want to take one week off per month. We'll see how these ideas go and make a decision for the future after that.

 

Youngest use to get really car sick on every trip over 15 minutes. He would just start feeling so awful he would scream and scream. The only way to calm him down would be to induce vomiting (which was difficult) or just let him snuggle on my lap for an hour. This lasted over a year, so I got good at trying different things for car sickness. Perhaps this list of things I tired could help you figure out something to try.

 

Things we had tried;

Driving well tired, (and hopefully sleeping during trip)

Driving well rested

Driving after exercise

Driving after a calm day

Eating before driving, and during

Not eating before or during

Drinking before and during driving

Eating ginger everyday

Eating yogurt everyday

Giving up sugar

Wearing the bands on your wrist

Taking anti-nausa medicine

Not looking at anything well driving

Having a IPad to play games on

Listening to a book on tape

Listening to relaxing music

Stopping mid trip for a 30 minute play at an indoor play structure (Think McDonalds) --okay, maybe wouldn't work for you. :)

 

Nothing worked. He just eventually stopped being car sick.

Edited April 30, 2012 by Julie Smith

[Laura Corin]

What??????? I've only ever seen Tesco brand ginger ale, which was just vile. I'll have to look for Schweppes. I'm so excited!

 

I haven't tried Ginger Beer either. I'll give it a go.

 

You should be able to find it somewhere....

 

Laura

[justamouse]

I have a Dd who used to throw up every Sunday as we pulled into the parking lot of church. She now has to be driven to school every day, and for the first half of the year has to take meds to calm her stomach down from the early morning.

 

She also has to put her hand out the window, so that the breeze of direction settles her stomach.

 

How about you and the kids not going? (it's not for me to comment on if your husband's calling is true or not)

[mazakaal]

Youngest use to get really car sick on every trip over 15 minutes. He would just start feeling so awful he would scream and scream. The only way to calm him down would be to induce vomiting (which was difficult) or just let him snuggle on my lap for an hour. This lasted over a year, so I got good at trying different things for car sickness. Perhaps this list of things I tired could help you figure out something to try.

 

Things we had tried;

Driving well tired, (and hopefully sleeping during trip)

Driving well rested

Driving after exercise

Driving after a calm day

Eating before driving, and during

Not eating before or during

Drinking before and during driving

Eating ginger everyday

Eating yogurt everyday

Giving up sugar

Wearing the bands on your wrist

Taking anti-nausa medicine

Not looking at anything well driving

Having a IPad to play games on

Listening to a book on tape

Listening to relaxing music

Stopping mid trip for a 30 minute play at an indoor play structure (Think McDonalds) --okay, maybe wouldn't work for you. :)

 

Nothing worked. He just eventually stopped being car sick.

 

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I like the last one best. :D

[mumto2]

Megan-

 

I can't figure out how to do a private message or I would.

 

Maybe our families can meet at Fountains Abbey? Let me know when-- if it would be good. My dc's are 12 and 14. It could be really nice but I don't want to complicate your holiday.

[Julie Smith]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I like the last one best. :D

 

Be sure to find a nice indoor play structure.

 

For awhile when making the 90 minute trip to my parents we had to give Youngest anti-nausea medicine. And stop for 1 hour to play and eat in the middle of the trip. Even then he wouldn't be himself when we arrived.

 

Seriously. Could you arrange some nice place to stop on the way home. Now that it's spring perhaps a park to sit down at and the kids can play for a bit when you have a rest and a snack. Even bring a lawn chair to relax on perhaps a good book. Then when you get home, your kids will have also eaten something so you only need to prepare a simple and/or late dinner.

[Little Nyssa]

PM'd you

[mazakaal]

Be sure to find a nice indoor play structure.

 

For awhile when making the 90 minute trip to my parents we had to give Youngest anti-nausea medicine. And stop for 1 hour to play and eat in the middle of the trip. Even then he wouldn't be himself when we arrived.

 

Seriously. Could you arrange some nice place to stop on the way home. Now that it's spring perhaps a park to sit down at and the kids can play for a bit when you have a rest and a snack. Even bring a lawn chair to relax on perhaps a good book. Then when you get home, your kids will have also eaten something so you only need to prepare a simple and/or late dinner.

 

There are several outdoor places that we could stop on the way home, but I've been waiting for better weather. Spring has not sprung here yet. It's been a grey, cold, windy, wet April. Hopefully May will get better.

[mazakaal]

Megan-

 

I can't figure out how to do a private message or I would.

 

Maybe our families can meet at Fountains Abbey? Let me know when-- if it would be good. My dc's are 12 and 14. It could be really nice but I don't want to complicate your holiday.

 

I'll pm you.

[JessReplanted]

I would skip the fruit and try to come up with another source of protein for a snack, sleep in a different room on Saturday night, and find someone else to do Sunday School. If Sunday School isn't something important enough for someone from the church to volunteer for maybe they shouldn't have it.

 

:iagree:

 

You are in no way responsible for making sure Sunday school happens. If your husband has put this pressure on you, he is wrong. (BTDT)

And also, if he's only filling in temporarily, the I would continue to take the kids to a local church. If you think this will be long term, then you should probably keep making the drive though. :tongue_smilie:

[mazakaal]

Thanks, everyone, for all your responses. While I appreciate all the advice about SS not being my responsibility, etc, I'm really just looking for ways to deal with the illness. There really is no one else to do SS. In the class we have my kids, one girl whose mom teaches the youth, three kids who only come every other week because their parents are divorced and they come when their dad (who I wouldn't consider SS teacher material) has them, one girl whose mom is Indian and doesn't speak great English, and one girl whose parents don't come (she and her older brother come on their own). So there are no other parents to help out. One young man has been kind enough to teach once a month. Another older woman offered to help, and did teach a couple of times, but found it to be too much. Another woman has offered to help, but we've been waiting ages for her background check to be completed. Another young woman has offered to help, but then backed out.

 

So that's why I'm just trying to figure out a way to make this work. If I can't find a solution from all the suggestions I've gotten, I will have to just back out and say there's no SS, but I'm trying to avoid that.

 

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I'm going to give these a try in the next couple of weeks and see if there's an improvement.

 

A huge side benefit is that one of the suggestions prompted me to figure out how to get my cd's onto my Kindle, which I hadn't bothered to do. Actually, I got ds to do it for me. :001_smile: But it probably never would have happened if I hadn't seen that suggestion here. Thanks!

[JudoMom]

In October dh took over pastoring a church that is 1hr 15min from us. I didn't really want to uproot the kids and drive that far for church every week, but dh felt it was important for the church to have our whole family there. And there was no one to take over the Sunday school, so I've had to do that, teaching almost every Sunday.

 

The problem is that I get really sick from the drive. The first 45 minutes of the drive is very windy and hilly. I don't feel so bad on the way there, but the way home just about kills me. I get frequent, severe headaches, and I invariably get one every Sunday, possibly in part due to the fact that dh tosses and turns all night long on Saturday night, so I get a very bad sleep as well.

 

I thought that part of the problem could be that we don't end up getting out of church until 1:30 and I'm absolutely starving by then. So yesterday I brought a bag of fruit and nuts to snack on as soon as the service was over (12:30), hoping it would stave off the hunger. It worked to keep me from getting too hungry, but I still felt so ill that I collapsed in bed when we got home. I had also wondered if it would be better for me to do the driving, but that didn't help either.

 

Every week we're getting home around 3:30 in the afternoon. I collapse in bed with headache and nausea, maybe sleeping for a short time, but mostly just lying there feeling miserable for hours. I'll feel better sometime in the evening (7 or 8pm), but then I can't fall asleep at night because I've spent so much of the afternoon in bed.

 

Does anyone have any ideas about what could be making me feel so bad (I don't normally get severely carsick on long drives) or what I can do to feel better? The only thing I can think of is to sleep in the spare bed in dd's room on Saturday nights. Maybe getting a better sleep will help. Any other ideas?

 

Can you take cool wet washcloths and a pillow along, and lay your head back and cover your face with a cool cloth on the way home?

 

:grouphug:

[atozmom]

How do you give her the ginger? Is it mixed in with something? Or is it a pill supplement you get from the health food store?

 

I don't have an ipod, but I can load some music onto dh's iphone and use that. I think I can load music onto my Kindle Fire, but I have no idea how. I'll have to check into that. Thanks.

 

Sorry, just now seeing this and getting a chance to reply. She takes the ginger in a capsule form. We also have something from Hylands that has worked for her as well - Motion Sickness. You can find it at some drug stories and health food stores as well as Amazon. Then add the ipod in on top of it and she is good to go.

 

As far as headaches from lack of water, I will second (maybe third not sure :lol:) pp. I know if I don't drink enough water throughout the day, I will get a killer headache.