I don’t remember everything I ever got for Christmas. Do you? There were a few things that stood out. I remember a grown up pre-Barbie dress up doll my sister ordered with cereal boxtops, a Tiny Tears baby doll, and Melody Bells, a musical toy. My oldest brother, away at college, sent me a stuffed animal pooch that I carried around until the stuffing started falling out. I remember my parents giving me my older sister’s used bike for Christmas one year. : (
When I was old enough to write I made the annual wish list/letter to Santa. The lists got more elaborate as the years passed. New fads and new gadgets began populating the list. I imagine my parents were as uncertain about what to get teens then as most parents of teenagers are today. That ’s when they began giving us cards with dollar bills to spend. There’s good and bad in that. It’s still a gift, and there is magic in suddenly having money to spend. I did the same thing with my teens when I discovered that almost every item I bought was likely to end up a return. Except that it wasn’t cash, it was a gift card. But, somehow, I felt like I was missing something. Something tangible in the gift process.
Several years ago I had the privilege of working with a kindly gentleman in his late 70s. He had a lovely tradition with his teen-aged grandchildren. He also gave them money, but they spent it while visiting him. He took them to various stores in the mall and they had a shopping day together. Lunch out, as well. He didn’t actually go in the stores, rather he waited happily in the mall in one of those comfortable chairs, reading the paper, or doing a crossword puzzle. Shopping isn’t nearly so tiring if you bring a book. : )
What I liked most about his solution was that he got in on the gift. He experienced the excitement of it. The gift was not so much a thing, as an adventure, a shared occasion. And lunch out was a bonus, both for the giver and the gifted. I think I’ll try it one of these days. It could work.
You know I received an email with good advice regarding the flu, and it struck me that in 2009 I was getting some of the same advice from the medical professionals that I got from my Mother. (The following excerpted quotes are from Dr. Vinay Goyal, an Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) It’s funny to me because now we actually have explanations for some of these age old cures. For instance:
1) Gargling with salt water is suggested to “prevent proliferation of the virus. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don’t trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. Don’t underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.” Oh, how I hated that salt water routine and thought my Mother was just torturing me. I used to pretend to gargle with it to stay out of trouble. That is, until my older sister caught me emptying the glass down the drain.
2) Drinking lots of hot liquids is recommended. “ Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. Gargling washes off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.” My mother handed me hot lemonade, hot tea, or hot broth, depending upon the illness. I handed my children hot cider when they refused the lemonade and tea. I thought it was just to keep us warm and our sinuses open.
3) Washing your hands frequently is recommended–and I’ve heard it suggested that you do it to the tune of tune of Happy Birthday to You, or the ABC song. No short rinsing will do to rid us of the germs and contagion around us. We were always washing our hands it seemed. And showing them to our Mothers, for inspection. I just thought she was a clean freak.
4) “Blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.” Remember your Mother holding a tissue over your nose and insisting that you blow your nose? Oh, that was nasty business!
5) “Eat foods that are rich in Vitamin C to boost your natural immunity.” All those oranges and orange juice had a purpose! My Dad used to take an orange and cut a quarter sized circle of the peel off and hand it to me to suck on. I thought he was just keeping me busy. It takes a long time to finish off an orange that way.
