The Nome Nugget

HEALTH HINTS FOR THE FAMILY
COLDS
S MAKE THEM CROSS.
by
Margaret Little

Six year old Jack sat at the dinner table toying with his food. He was cross and irritable- he had already picked a silly fight with Ellen before dinner.

Mother took a more careful look at him; Jack was usually so cheerful, she felt sure something was amiss. Sure enough, there was the tell-tale drip on his upper lip, and, now that she was paying attention, she observed that he did have a hacky cough. She heaved a sigh - another cold to cope with.

"Jack," she said, "How would you like a big glass of orange juice instead of that dinner?"

"Can I have ginger ale in it?"

"All right, I'll fix it for you, then you can go lie on the couch until we are through dinner. You can pick out a story and I'll read it to you after a bit."

Jack drank his orange fizz and went to bed early, with relatively little fuss. Mother read to him, eased the tickle in his throat with cough syrup, tucked him in, and told him not to get out of bed in the morning but to call her. Jack's mother used a simple syrup; she knew better than to use any medicine that had either narcotic or antihistamine in it.

Jack was, for a couple of days, kept in bed. He knew the routine, this wasn't his first cold. Jack didn't really mind, he got a lot of attention - it wasn't so bad staying in bed. He loved orange fizz and the cough medicine mother gave him tasted good; it was fun to play with his special sick-a-bed toys.

By keeping him in bed Mother not only helped Jack recover quickly from his cold, but by isolating him in his room, she kept his germs away from Ellen. One cold at a time in a family is enough.

*Noted Pediatrician, Consultant to Pertussin Laboratories