Staying cool....keeping hydrated

This is my first post, but I really wanted to stress to everyone the importance of staying cool and hydrated while working. Here in Central California we experience some pretty intense heat in the summer months with temperatures hitting 108(F) and well into the teens. I've never been very "good" at drinking enough water until I suffered from severe heat exhaustion at one event....pounding headache, confusion, dizziness...felt like hurling...the works.

My next event was a big 4th of July event and the temp was 110(F). I was constantly telling my 12 year old daughter (who helps me out) she needed to drink more water. She began to look pale, sweating heavily (of course) and was beginning to feel sick.

I thought with the heat I probably wouldn't have too many patrons coming my way, but I was pleasantly surprised. At about 6 pm I had a nice line in front of my booth when all of a sudden we hear a child yell out "I DON'T FEEL RIGHT!" before collapsing, face first, onto the ground right outside of my booth.

Please...remember that while you may feel like you don't have time to stop...you need to make sure everyone in your booth is remembering to keep hydrated and take breaks. Thanks!

Oh my gosh, so scary!

This has been one the hottest summers in Michigan that I can remember. I've had a few rough gigs recently. We keep lots of water on hand and I've begun to bring a portable camping fan that recharges. It's nice to dry the sweat on the brows of the littles your painting:)

Btw- love your avatar! What a cutie!

Thanks...that's my 6 year old!

Yes - as a mother...it was horrifying! I was over there cradling her and patting her down with a cool towel before I even really knew what had just happened...I didn't even know I could move that fast...the poor thing.

I have a 6 yr old little girl too:)

Fun age for painting!

That sounds terrible! I'm in South Carolina, and the heat here is terrible too. With the heat index, it's been miserable!

My little girl just turned 6 in April

How awful and scary!! I live in the frozen north of Minnesota but this summer has been a record breaker for heat and the humidity is the WORST! Nothing like dripping sweat while sitting still!

I always have to remind myself to drink water too. Usually I bring a big jug but have frozen it half full the night before so there's a huge ice cube. I also have a couple battery powered fans. I've been wanting to get one of those little fans with a spray bottle built in as a mister! I have a great chair I found at Sam's Club that has a sun canopy built in that pops up from the back...it's awesome when I need some shade and don't have a tent!

We've been having a bad summer with heat here, too. I did a fair a couple of weeks ago with 100+ temps and high humidity. One girl I painted and while I began doing a glitter tattoo on her brother she started saying she was going to be sick. Her mother took her behind my tent to throw up, and her brother said to me, "I can't believe she's throwing up AGAIN!" He proceeded to tell me that she had thrown up in the car on the way to the fair. It was so very hot, and I told her mom she needed water. Then the kids and mom were saying they left their water bottles in the car! What is up with people? I have a hard time with parents doing stupid stuff like that. The news was telling people to stay home and not go to the fair because it was too hot. If I didn't have to be there, I would've been at my mom's air-conditioned house or swimming at my friend's pool with my kids, but while most people with brains chose to do that there were a few who still came to the fair. We had people passing out, and there were a couple dozen deaths in our area from the heat. Duh!

The entire US has had that whole "heat dome" over it that made record breaking temps all over. It's so scary!
The week that Lori is talking about, I actually had two events cancel due to extreme heat, and I was soooooo grateful for that! One of the few times I was happy to not make money.

We keep drinks with electrolytes in the booth, fruit and "cool packs" in the cooler. At county fairs or events with electric I also keep a small fan in the back of the booth with a chair in front of it. We have a spray bottle of cool water that we use to spray ourselves, and clients, down. Spraying down and standing in front of the fan is even better.

It's good to be there, to honour arrangements and to make money however nothing is worth our health or that of our family/workers.

I am always confused by those who don't head weather warnings and just go on like it's no matter. So confused.

Lynnie wrote:The entire US has had that whole "heat dome" over it that made record breaking temps all over. It's so scary!
The week that Lori is talking about, I actually had two events cancel due to extreme heat, and I was soooooo grateful for that! One of the few times I was happy to not make money.

We keep drinks with electrolytes in the booth, fruit and "cool packs" in the cooler. At county fairs or events with electric I also keep a small fan in the back of the booth with a chair in front of it. We have a spray bottle of cool water that we use to spray ourselves, and clients, down. Spraying down and standing in front of the fan is even better.

It's good to be there, to honour arrangements and to make money however nothing is worth our health or that of our family/workers.

I am always confused by those who don't head weather warnings and just go on like it's no matter. So confused.

I agree. As soon as I got there I wanted to leave, but didn't want to flake on the organizers. We also take along a cooler packed with bottled waters and ice as well as hand fans. I dampened a towel and patted myself and my daughter down frequently while fanning. It helped and as soon as she saw the poor little girl collapse she RAN to the cooler, grabbed a bottled water and started chugging it. Nothing like a real life demo to let her know the seriousness of it all.

HappyVickery wrote:That sounds terrible! I'm in South Carolina, and the heat here is terrible too. With the heat index, it's been miserable!

My little girl just turned 6 in April

They are a joy at that age....they still adore everything about you and idolize you...I wish they stayed that age forever....

I have a neck wrap with expanding water beads in it which helps to keep my core temperature down. It is definitely important to keep some drinks with you. It's easier when you are at a booth than if you are "wandering" as I was last weekend for my event. You don't really want to carry too much stuff, but I hadn't brought anything to drink or a chair and about halfway through the first day of the event, I thought I'd better sit somewhere or there will be an ambulance here soon to pick me up off the pavement.... so I sat on the ground and got one of the parents in line to take some money into the Starbucks I found myself in front of and get me the biggest iced tea she could buy. That helped a lot, even if I hadn't eaten since 5 or 6 hours earlier.

I've also ditched the knee socks for now and I"m wearing some pink Birkenstocks with my nails painted instead too.

Perry, I have a clown costume and have used it once. It was on a hot summer day at a church picnic, and I had to wander out in the sun for several hours. I decided then that I didn't want to be a clown! I can't stand the heat when dressed in normal COOL clothes. I felt like I was gonna pass out in that clown costume. It was awful! I'll stick to face painting and tattoos in the shade of my tent.

I had someone doing a news bit on the heat wave interview me a little while back for tv and I basically explained that if I were wearing a tank top and shorts, I wouldn't look like a clown... there is a certain minimum amount of clothes that I have to wear (particularly since I'm a larger woman) or else I look like an undressed clown LOL

I will do pirate and ren faires often, I can say that on the weekends I don't do them- I don't miss the costumes at all! And I used to wear bellydance outfits. Those lord/lady/clown/etc. outfits...no way.
Not to mention the knights who are effectively wearing cookware on their bodies!
I'm with you, Lori!