I’m going to start this off by admitting something shocking. I’m not super into the essential oil trend. My friends swear by oils, and swear by and and love the results oils have brought to their lives. But I’m definitely going to reach into my medicine cabinet for ibuprofen when I have a headache. Just how I roll. I roll without a rollerball. Get it? Essential oil mixers know what I’m talking about! 😉

Anyway… this is actually about ticks. This spring (having only seen one tick previously in my lifetime), I have tweezed a tick embedded in my knee, removed a tick crawling in my youngest’s hair, and have seen 4 additional ticks — in my yard, on my picnic blanket, on my back deck. MY DECK YOU GUYS! My deck is supposed to be my safe way to enjoy nature without being all up in the nature. But those creepers are encroaching on my safe space. I HATE THEM!

They are out there in huge numbers thanks to climate change, a huge acorn season in 2016, and other reasons you can read about here in this Huffington Post article. I hadn’t ever used tick spray before, so I did what any other freaked out mom would do after tweezing a tick out of my knee, I turned to Facebook for commiseration and advice. I got responses ranging from essential oils to sprays with DEET to tick tubes.

Was I surprised when countless friends suggested I use peppermint oil and lemon oils to keep ticks off my kids? Nope! Not at all! Was I about to consider that advice? Actually, YES! I will happily and proudly lather my kids in anything from pepermint oils to DEET if it will protect their bodies and developing brains from Lyme disease which could really take a toll! (See signs and symptoms here). But I settled on this spray — not because of the ingredients, but because it was determined to be the most effective protection against mosquitos and ticks per Consumer Reports research and ratings. Sold!

I’m also looking into getting our yard treated. Because these girls LOVE to play outside. I was talking to some parents at pre-K about all the ticks and someone understandably said she was hesitant to treat her yard and spray her kids because chemicals determined “safe” now may be determined to not be so safe later on. I get it. But I’m going with our safest option now. And aside from never letting them go outside this spring and summer, which I really really wish was a real option, that means spraying and yard treatments to help keep ticks at bay.

But we’re all different and that’s why all these different options are available. Whatever you choose to do to battle ticks this summer — move to a new state, never leave the house, spray, tick tubes, essential oils, pants tucked into your socks — I do recommend that you incorporate a daily tick check into your day if you live where ticks might be. I just strip and check the girls immediately upon entering the house. Especially checking behind their knees, behind their ears, armpits, bathing suit areas, and hair. So far the spray seems to be keeping the ticks off of us. OMG! Did I just jinx it?

I’ll let you know how our tick drama progresses. Real talk, I’m one more tick encounter away from becoming a shut-in.

PS. If you are not yet on the shut-in tick protection plan, check out our carry-all pouches for toting toys, snacks, and art utensils, even first aid, while on-the-go this spring and summer!