discovering oils instead of medicine

In 2008, living 1700 miles away from all of our family, I joined Facebook. Just two days before the birth of our 4th child. I had succumbed to the "everybody is doing it" mindset. I rationalized my new found love of knowing everybody Else's business by claiming it was my way to stay in better contact with family and friends. I have used Facebook more than once as my outlet in my journey of Autism Awareness and the Hell that has often reigned down because of our lack of being able to manage it.

Facebook is also the reason I am where I am in this journey. I Love the re-connections with friends and acquaintances and finding the support as a mother in a way I never expected.
It is because of Facebook reconnecting, that my support system is as strong and big as it is. I now understand the meaning of "it takes a village to raise a child" a village of Facebook, ha!

I make it no secret about my boys and their high functioning Autism. I have grown from Autism Awareness to Autism Acceptance as I desire to teach and share the ups and downs. I am also a fan of sarcasm in expressing the reality of my life as a mother to... lets say 4 Spirited children. :) I am sure it is the only reason I have survived with most of my sanity still in tact.

Just this year I was contacted by a friend I knew as a teen. And all thanks to Facebook. She had wondered about my boys, and had something she wanted to send me to try. I now know that she was inspired (I am sure of it).
Skeptically, as we had tried many prescription medications. (none of which could help everything, and all that came with some sort of a negative side effect) I used an Essential oil that she sent me on my oldest.

We started using these oils with just a single drop behind each ear before school each day. By the third day, we had not yet developed a solid routine for applying the oils, but my son was ASKING for them. He felt better, he recognized and saw a difference in himself. He could tell that the oils peeled off the layers of confusion and helped with the way he was thinking and feeling.

AHHHHHMAZING!!! Seriously.

just one week after we started using, I received an email from his teacher. "CM was different. But in a good way. He seemed happier, more relaxed." She didn't ask if I was doing anything different, just thought I would like to know she noticed an improvement.
WOW!!
Not only was my emotionally numb child able to EXPRESS that HE felt better, it was noticeable to others. Brings me to tears just thinking about how far we have come in such a short amount of time.

In just 6 months, I have gone from using the oils to help my son, to using them for every kind of ailment and on every family member.

The other day, while visiting Grandma, she mentioned to me that she was getting a cold. A pesky cough was her biggest issue. I told her that we had just rid the "coughs" in our house in just 2 days with 3 oils. She said, they didn't work well for her, so I let it go.
Later in the day, I noticed she seemed less bothered, to which she replied that she went ahead and used the 3 oils. she was surprised at the results and admitted, that she should have listened, because they did make the cough dissipate and she was feeling better.

I am not a crazy "you gotta try this" kind of person. I won't make anyone try anything. But with the oils, I don't have to. They do that all on their own.

For my Oldest son We began with
Vetiver (to help relax, and calm his senses),
Patchouli (to help ground or stabilize his emotions; mood support),
Wild Orange (to help energize and revitalize an uplifted mood),
Serenity Blend (to help with his anxiety and stresses)
Peppermint (to help him keep concentration)
** we later changed the location of the peppermint to his hand between his thumb and his forefinger so that he could smell as needed to give himself an extra boost during the day. The school does NOT allow a child to administer these themselves out of the bottle with out a doctors note. Silly, I know, but I believe they just don't know enough about them to wish every parent would use them :)
and
We also use Lavender to assist at bedtime not only for an easier bedtime routine, but to help him fall asleep fast and stay asleep. Applied behind his ears and on the bottom of his feet.

We now use
InTune blend (to help him stay focused with a positive thought process)
Balance blend (to calm his senses and anxiety)
in addition to keeping the Serenity Blend, Peppermint and Lavender.

I don't feel as though I have still stepped out of my comfort zone with using the oils, but I do know I will never go back to life without them. No more relying solely on antidepressants or medications that I can barely pronounce with scary ingredients and fact sheets with possible side effects a mile long.