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Dad's sage (or rather, citrus) advice for Mom's Cold
My grandmother says, “Feed a fever and starve a cold.”
The doctor says, “Take two aspirin and call me in the morning.”
My husband says, “Take 40,000 mg of Vitamin C, a B-12, 6 Echinacea tablets, and a tablespoon of eye of newt.”
For some strange, out-of-character reason during cold season, my husband becomes a raging herbalist. This is the man who usually eats like a pregnant woman, with some of the weirdest food combos since Iron Chef: Battle Sea Urchin. I have seen him order a side of bacon with his bacon. However, if either one of us has a cold--like I did this weekend--then somehow he believes that massive amounts of nutritional supplements will cure what ails us.
My contention is that while Vitamin C may be effective in the early onset of a cold, there comes a distinct point when your immune system is not just compromised, but shut down and you may actually need a good old-fashioned antibiotic. When you haven’t been able to hear out of your right ear since last citrus season for instance, perhaps it’s time to visit an M.D. rather GNC.
He will have none of it.
“I still think if you took your C’s this morning, you’d feel better,” he says as I line up for a chest X-ray.
“Sweet pea, I'd appreciate that if I had scurvy, but I think I have a sinus infection at this point.”
“And you haven’t even tried the Echinacea.”
I cough. “I took one, but I think the nausea might have negated the effects.”
So, darling, I know you weren’t able to hear me through my laryngitis this morning, so you’ll be happy to know that I took my amoxicillin, three Prednisones, Mucinex and Nasonex that a doctor prescribed with a big ol' glass of O.J. this morning. I’m sure I’ll feel as good as new when you get home for dinner tonight.
We’re having crow a l’Orange.
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Sharon Kennedy Wynne has sunscreen in her blood. She may have been born in Buffalo but she got here as fast as she could, in time for kindergarten. She grew up in St. Petersburg, graduated from the University of Florida journalism school, and even got married at Sunken Gardens. She's one of the few adults we know who actually loves taking her kids to the beach. She has two sons and with 10 years of parenting under her belt, she's starting to feel a little less out of her league. She comes from a large family and loves to debate, so brace yourself when the hot topics come up.
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Freelance writer Courtney Cairns Pastor wasn’t so sure about having kids and how she would balance child-rearing with her journalism career. It turned out that her journalism training went to good use. As the mom to a funny, active toddler, she learned to handle him like she did her sources. Never ask yes or no questions (the answer will always be no), get him to be specific (are you crying because you’re wet or your tooth hurts?) and be prepared for anything because no two days are the same. When she’s not playing trucks, Courtney crams for her book club, trains for races and occasionally bursts into showtunes. E-mail her at 
Suzannah DiMarzio has it bad for the Mouse. Although she grew up outside of Boston, she took her degree in tourism management down to Orlando just to work at Disney and the travel industry. Of course, when she married her high school sweetheart, the reception was at Disney. She’s now a seasoned stay-at-home mom to two tweens and a toddler – and yes, that is as crazy as it sounds. Suzannah has her own blog, Comment Policy
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