Mom, Come Swab My Throat, Please!

'Mommy, come swab my throat!' This week I have had a miserable cold. When I was little my mom slathered us all over with Vicks and even made us eat it.  She would sit Teri and me down and have us all take a scoop out of the jar. Sometimes she made us eat our own scoop and sometimes she said switch. So we never knew if we should take a big swipe or just a little one. Mom would also swab our throat with a matchstick wrapped in a small piece of toilet paper. Next, she dipped it in methiolate and coated our throats with its healing power. I have the memory of my Grandma Peabody swabbing my mom's throat and her spitting red all over Grandma's glasses.

Today, I came home from school at noon, covered myself in Vicks, took cold medicine, drank hot tea but my throat was still killing me. Finally, I got up prepared my match and swabbed my own throat. Not an easy task with gag reflexes and all. IMMEDIATELY my throat stopped hurting. The magic of Mom and her quirky remedies.

Dad used to make us drink blackberry brandy when we had a stomach bug. I never once threw up after drinking his brandy. Wonder what weird cures my kids will remember that I came up with. I know putting Vicks on paper towels then wrapping them in plastic wrap around their chest will be one.

What crazy elixirs does your family use? Do you do the things your parents made you when you were little to your kids?

I don't eat Vicks anymore and didn't make my kids but I do swab throats, even my own.