Although not everyone has tough to handle in-laws, there is always that one in every family who has a knack for getting under your skin and on your nerves. And then it happens. You get that call. They are coming, or you are going. For better or worse, it's that time again to plaster a smile on your face and prepare for the snide back-handed comments, random family drama, and just not seeing eye to eye.
Unfortunately, for most people, visiting in-laws means:
- headaches
- moving at the speed of molasses outside during winter
- miscommunication
- over-exaggerated eye-rolls
- offending everyone you're not supposed to
- passive aggressive comments over grandma's sweet potato casseroles.
For some… it means keeping on your toes, and sneaking swigs of wine or whiskey when no one is looking.
Or maybe you've seriously lucked out and have fantastic families and in-laws, and would just love to enhance the love and light of family visiting.
Our Family Secret To Surviving The In-Laws: Essential Oils
I've written before about how they impact the limbic system, and also how to manage healthy emotions during holidays… but what about the random visits throughout the year?
Yup… I take full advantage of the limbic system! And we do so through using essential oils.
Why?
Because there is something about the aroma of certain oils and oil blends that help chill out the mind and body to enable you to enhance the enjoyment of your time together.
Yes! Essential oils can take you from feeling snarky to just enjoying the moment… and even feeling grateful with just a few sniffs!
How To Use Essential Oils To Survive The In-Laws
The oils I'll discuss in just a moment can further enhance your utopian family get togethers too… they aren't just reserved for dramatic families…
While I tend to get along with everyone, there are those trying moments.
Sometimes I just want to scream,
- “what were you thinking?”
- Or “you can't be serious.”
- Or (my favorite) “did you even hear what I just said??????”
- Or the ever so common, “no, you cannot share a bowl of ice cream with your toddler grandson for lunch!”
And that is typically when I realize the diffuser ran out and turned itself off. Or I forgot to put on my diffusing necklace.
White Angelica
White Angelica is a refreshingly light smelling essential oil blend composed of bergamot (furocoumarin-free), myrrh, geranium, royal Hawaiian sandalwood, rosewood, ylang ylang, spruce, hyssop, melissa, rose essential oils, pre-dilluted in a base of sweet almond oil (hello not having to dilute!).
Aside from being one of my favorite oil blends to use as a nontoxic perfume, White Angelica is the oil blend to go to when you're going to be around anyone with negative energy.
Its aroma is also light and refreshing without any heavy tones to it (easily the lightest aroma I've ever experienced). It is subtle and completely enjoyable. In the diffuser, it makes the room smell crisp, clean, and just an overall feeling of happiness and love. I often wear this in a diffuser necklace too.
Joy
Joy essential oil blend is my “happy” oil. It saved me during my baby blues, and continues to be incredibly useful as my toddler experiences how to manage big boy emotions and as I learn to manage life with a toddler and an infant.
Its also incredibly handy to instantly put a smile on the face of everyone I swipe it on. Seriously… I do keep it in a bottle with a roller top just to swipe across family members' wrists or backs of necks… and almost instantly those frowns turn upside down and my day is so much better from it (even helps the toddler find his happy place during tantrums).
Joy is composed of bergamot furocoumarin-free), ylang ylang, geranium, lemon, coriander, tangerine, jasmine, Roman chamomile, Palmarosa, and rose essential oils.
It is one of those oils where if you are going to have anyone negative over, you need to add it to a pinch of salt and some water to funnel into a squirt gun… and then hand that squirt gun to the toddler to “get [insert negative relative's name here].”
While some guests might be offended or even get angry for being sprayed down… they might also be the ones who need it the most. And its so much cuter when a 2 year old does it, than if someone in their early 30s were to start dousing people in happy oil. Besides… how could you keep a straight face looking down the barrel of a squirt gun held by a toddler??
Gathering
Gather essential oil blend isn't my typical go-to (I'm much more an Oola Family and White Angelica type), but it is a great oil to diffuse to inspire togetherness.
This oil is especially handy for introverts, like me, who are often overwhelmed by chaotic family gatherings and sensory overload, especially when the dogs and toddler wind up romping around the house with anyone who will entertain the thought of playing with them.
Gathering essential oil blend is especially handy when you're anticipating that sensory overload of the TV being cranked up to volume 70, while everyone shouts over it because no one can hear anything. This oil is for those chaotic moments that just need to hurry up and end so you can hear your own thoughts.
Gathering essential oil blend is composed of lavender, geranium, galbanum, frankincense, royal Hawaiian sandalwood, ylang ylang, black spruce, cinnamon bark, and rose essential oils.
Sharing a bathroom…
Yup. I'm totally going there!!! No one likes to talk about the bathroom. And no one wants to go in the bathroom after grandpa ate his third bowl of bean chilli. Or after grandma guzzled down half a bottle of laxatives after finishing a giant bowl of milk to go with her concoction of Cheerios and Mini-Wheats all mixed together, because if she doesn't, she “will have problems in the bathroom later.” Next thing you know those “problems” she might have… well, they're stinking up the entire hallway and creeping into every nook and cranny of the north side of the living room. But don't you dare open your mouth that her routine might be causing problems… because… “problems…”
So, what can you do about your bathroom woes?
Well, my husband's solution is to plan for the next time we buy a house…
Next time we buy a house, we will have a separate guest wing or dual master bathrooms on opposite ends of the house to “contain the smells” in a more manageable manner. That would be absolutely fantastic. But… God only knows when we will be on the market for a new house, or where that will be, or what the affordable market will look like. Lets face it… if we could have afforded such a house this time, we would have. And for the next 3 years, we are not going anywhere (but perks of being a military family – we do move a lot).
My solution: Essential Oils… Again
Yup! We have an oil for that too!
Essential oils have been an incredible blessing in our home. This just furthers them earning additional cupboard and counter top space it takes to store them in every room. Ok, maybe not every room. I only have a stash in the kitchen, both bathrooms, home office, and one of three bedrooms.
Usually for private bathroom needs, I'd make a “poopouri” spray with some bergamot or peppermint essential oils. Then a couple drops or a couple of sprays into the toilet and all the upcoming smells are contained. If you don't want to make your own, you can buy some already made and skip the DIY.
Yes, I literally drop my essential oils into the toilet… and it works!!
Plus, if you need to “go” and can't, 2 drops of peppermint in the toilet bowl before you sit will help move that right along… without the smell!
Of course we can't get my husband's grandparents to use oils in the bathroom the way we would, because lets face it… their sense of smell and eyesight just aren't as acute as they once were. Instead I reached for the diffuser.
Having a diffuser in there full of the Purification Essential Oil Blend is definitely a major bonus. After putting our extra diffuser in the bathroom and keeping it on almost constantly while family was in town, we were blessed to not walk into a brick wall of stench each time we walked down the hallway, feeling like you need your fourth shower of the day.
We used the Dewdrop Diffuser (the white tear drop looking one that comes with Young Living's Premium Starter Kit), and kept a 15ml bottle of Purification Essential Oil Blend on standby next to the diffuser. I set the diffuser to intermittently diffuse, which means every 30 seconds it would run for 30 seconds, and would last a solid 8 hours. So instead of smelling some awful rendition of the last meal plus nasty laxative, we would breathe in the freshness of citronella, lemongrass, rosemary, tea tree, lavender, and myrtle essential oils.
SO MUCH BETTER!!!! I was no longer “taking one for the team” or go blue in the face holding my breath while walking through the hallway to fetch a clean t-shirt for the toddler after his 47th water spill of the day that rendered a complete outfit change to be time critical. I could then breathe easy and not have to worry about the 6th bathroom “blow up” of the day.
Have I mentioned how awesome these oils are???
Seriously. If you don't have a stash of them sitting in your house, then you're missing out on an incredible adventure of making your life so much more enjoyable!
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Nicole
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