Sunday evening, after dinner (which I did NOT cook), my husband became ill. He blamed it on food poisoning.
Monday morning, my grandson's school called to tell me they had a sick child. I foreswore asking them, "Whose?" and went to pick up the lil man. He had a slight fever and a "tummy ache."
My daughter, who works nights, was sleeping so I brought the munchkin to my house.
We got home and I sent him to change into his jammies and get into bed. It is tradition, in my house and in my daughter's, that if you come home sick from school, you go to bed. You do not watch TV or play games or bake cookies. You are sick.
It was almost lunchtime and lil man said he was hungry. I decided to make him - you guessed it - chicken soup
.
Normally, when I make chicken soup from scratch, this is the recipe I use. When my husband makes chicken soup, this 
is the recipe he uses.
When there is a sicko involved, this
is the soup I make. It is the soup my mom used to make when we were sick and the soup I made for my kids when they were sick. We only got it when we were sick. Period. I don't know why. I just know.
Now, if there is a sore throat involved, or (insert your own word for vomitting, yakking, puking, etc.) involved, Mom gave us this.
We did not get the sugar free variety (I couldn't find the right picture) and we usually got strawberry. We got it warm. Yep, warm jello. It slid down without hurting and well, you just can't beat technicolor puke. Once again, we only got this when were sick. Period. I don't know why. I just know.
And last but not least - for colds:
Mom would rub it on our chests and then give us one of Dad's white cotton (J.C.Penney pima cotton) T-shirts to wear to bed.
She would also smear it under our noses and occasionally stick it up a nostril. Sometimes, even though she was a nurse and I am sure that she loved us, she would roll some into a little ball and have us swallow it! Do not do this at home. It specifically says not to do this at home.
The smell of Vick's still makes me feel loved when I am sick, though.
So there you have it - winter supplies for the sickroom at my house. Lipton's chicken soup, warm jello, Vick's VapoRub, and an extra large man's white cotton T-shirt.
UPDATE
Little man, this afternoon, asked if he could have "sick noodle soup" even when he's not sick. I think a new name for Lipton's has been born.
15 comments:
Your mom did a great job raising you. Sounds like a wonderful childhood. :)
My mom gave me Lipton soup, too! I love the white cotton tshirt with the Vicks. Made me smile!
Megan
Wow. I might've gone to school more if I had to be sick in a house without tv? I was known as hypo for my chronic tummy aches!
I had the same rules as you for sick children and now my daughter does exactly the same.
Vicks is a good old fashioned remedy. My mother used it and in turn I used it on my children.
I love your take on traditions :)
We always got flat lemonade and vegemite on toast when sick as kids. I still crave that now when I don't feel well!
"sick noodle soup"? i love it, but it'd be hard to market.
our sick traditions were: soda crackers, 7 Up (which required a trip to the store--we never had pop in our house at all), and tea.
i still swear by them.
Mom gave us 7up after we puked.
I can't stand it to this day.
Aw, poor little thing. Great post! We always drank 7-Up or Vernor's when we were sick (we're from the Detroit area, in case no one knows what Vernor's is -- it's ginger ale).
We also had the Mrs. Grass soup, with the little golden egg.
Too fun! Thanks for sharing.
Maria
I always had Campbell's when I didn't feel good.
I wonder if there is something going around that feels like food poisoning. I had something last week that I thought I was going to die from. My stomach just hurt. I could still eat and all, but it hurt.
Your grandson sounds so sweet. Glad he's feeling better. We have the same tradition in our family that if you're sick you are sick.
We always got Canada Dry ginger ale (the only time we were allowed soda) when we were sick. And we were also rubbed down with Vick's, although we never had to ingest it, eek!!!! That sounds gross!
When we couldn't hold food down, we'd get pasta with butter. Sweetie Pie thinks that's disgusting, but for some reason, you can always keep down buttered noodles.
Chicken Soup is so under appreciated. I like it for the taste, and it really does clear you up when you are sick. I use alot of pepper in mine.
Whenever I was sick my mom would give me flat 7-up.
That's the taste of mommy pampering to me.
go you! yup if you were sick you were in bed asleep period. if you felt better toward the end of the afternoon you might be able to lay on the couch but that wasn't real likely. not real sure what we ate except it probably was chicken soup. i keep making it lately. i think its to cheer myself up. not really sure why. i'm perfectly happy, i just like the way it makes me feel. well, better than a bag of cookies i guess! many more vitamins and no fat!
What a great post!! In my family, mom used all the same remedies....and I, in turn, used them on my daughter. With one exception...the Jello. My ex-husband's mom used this on her kids though! She said it always worked for her. Oh the memories!! And yes, I too feel loved when I smell Vicks when ill. Hope the lil guy is better today.
lil man is to cute;)
hope everyone gets to feelin better soon!!
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