More Adjustments

A couple of weeks ago I received an invitation from a friend to bring my children and enjoy her pool over the summer. It went something like: I am not sure if Ellie can be in chlorinated water, but if so you are more than welcome to bring your kids and use our pool this summer.

My first thought was: Great!

My second thought was: Wait. Huh?

My third thought was: CHLORINE! oh no!

It never occurred to me. I remember reading information on chlorinated pools in my GAPS book, but it never stuck because I have enough to think about and research with each immediate FPIES hurdle. So I thought about, talked about it, read about....processed and processed it in my head. And then I had one of those 'ah ha moments'.

We have a whole house filter to eliminate chemicals, specifically chlorine, from the bath water. We decided to install it when we first moved here and in the bath tub Moriah said "mommy the bathtub smells like a swimming pool!". And when I researched further I found that the body absorbs more chemicals (chlorine) through the skin in a short shower than you could drink in an average day. Not acceptable! I declared.

Not once did I make the connection between the bath water and swimming pools, even with Moriah's help. DOH! Thank the Lord we have had that filter installed and have already made that change for our home. But sadly, and most uncomfortably, the path to healing and living healthy has created another obstacle to socialization: swimming pools. A body fighting to heal and rid itself of toxins through things like eczema does not need the added set back of spending time absorbing chlorine. So no pools for us.

I have decided that this summer we will be going old school. We will be finding those favorite swimming holes, river edges, and mountain creeks to get wet, along with a pool in our backyard filled with plain ole water. All things that are quite therapeutic I have been told!