The two youngest granddaughters are at our house today. They’re both sick. The 4 year old is recovering from strep and a possible tummy bug (or it could be due to the antibiotics…I know how much they upset my stomach). The 7 year old has a low grade fever and is complaining of headaches. Both are rather lethargic.
Mommy dropped them off last night so they wouldn’t have to get up early when she left for work. Naturally they woke up at 4am….They went back to sleep after a drink of water, but did Grandmar (Grandma Marla)? OH NO! I’ve been up ever since…sigh.
Along with favorite jammies, blankies and cuddle dolls, Mommy left a whole pharmacy worth of drugs for all their ailments, both over the counter and prescription. Thankfully they haven’t needed any so far (other than the antibiotic). But they know it’s up on the counter so every time they happen by it they beg and beg to have some medicine.
That got me to thinking. Our mothers and grandmothers used to have to either hold us down and force medicine down us or resort to hiding it in something to get us to take it (Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down! The medicine go dow-own, medicine go down)
I clearly remember my mother trying everything she could think of to hide the taste of penicillin one time when I was sick. It was SO bitter! We finally managed to hide it in strong chocolate milk. I was able to get it down, but it still tasted yucky.
But now Big Pharm has formulated medicines to taste just like candy! At first glance that seems like a good thing. No longer do overwhelmed, exhausted parents have to struggle, argue, conjole, threaten or plead to get their kids to take medicine. The kids BEG for it!
A parent’s dream come true!!
Or is it…..
Take a quick look at any popular magazine. They’re filled with drug ads. Count how many drug ads you see just during one TV program. There are a LOT. And have you walked down the tummy trouble isle at the pharmacy???
We are bombarded by drugs. Drugs for cough, drugs for sniffles, drugs for scrapes, drugs to sleep, drugs to wake up, drugs for things we didn’t even know were wrong with us!
We as a society have become so dependent on drugs. We run to them at the slightest hint of discomfort. Our poor immune system has forgotten how to do its job!
And now the drug companies have formulated medicine so that it’s extremely attractive to kids, thereby teaching them to depend even more on medicine.
Now, certainly there are times when drugs are genuinely necessary! Don’t misunderstand me there. But do you really need Tylenol for that headache? Have you eaten today? Maybe you’re just hungry. Maybe you didn’t get enough sleep and a 15 minute power nap is all you need.
Maybe it’s time for the pendulum to swing back the other way a little bit to help teach our children that medicine isn’t a special treat, it’s only for when you REALLY need it. There are plenty of natural remedies our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents used with great success. Maybe it’s time to start rediscovering them.
Let’s start teaching our children this important lesson! Let’s start mixing yummy medicine with something not so yummy like….I don’t know….SARDINES??
EEWWWWW!!!
Maybe that’s a bit extreme 😉 But you get my point.
What do you think? Is yummy medicine a good thing? Comment below and let me know.
(Please remember to keep comments civil and polite – I’m sure this is going to be a hot button topic!)
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