This may sound weird, but it's true: My grown children have fond memories of being sick during their childhoods. Not scary sick, mind you, but minor illnesses like colds, upset stomachs, etc.
The reason? Their grandmother (my mom).
Because I worked throughout the majority of my children's childhoods, it was Mother who mostly cared for them when they were sick. She waited on them hand and foot.
First requirement of nurse "Nannie" (as they called her), you had to stay in bed. "No fanning around," she'd say.
If you had a cold, Mother started her course of care making sure your chest and back were lathered in Vicks VapoRub and then covered by a T-shirt (typically one of my father's as you grew older). There would always be a vaporizer or humidifier placed nearby on a chair or table, and your temperature was taken on a regular schedule. If you had a fever, she kept a cool washcloth placed on your forehead.
Homemade chicken soup was the main meal for colds, Popsicles for sore throats, and a BRAT diet of bananas, rice, applesauce and toast was her meal for a stomach virus.
But it was the constantly doled-out love that meant the most to my kids and, later, my grandkids (she helped take care of them because their mom and I were at work). Mother would constantly rub your back, arms, massage your head and snuggle - even if you had a fever.
Her goal was to make you feel better. It worked.
So here I am today, retired and following in my mother's footsteps, taking care of my grandchildren when they're sick (as well as when they're out of school).
One day last week, my 11-year-old granddaughter, Tilleigh, stayed home from school because of allergies.
I found myself behaving exactly like my mother. I told her she had to stay on the couch (where I wrapped her up in a quilt) and not "fan around." It was when I was looking in the medicine cabinet for the Vicks VapoRub that I realized the importance of what I was doing. I was taking care of my sick grandchild exactly the way my mom took care of hers.
Like my mom, I made my granddaughter tasty homemade chicken soup from scratch (it was a dish I made myself master because I hate to cook) and made sure she drank plenty of liquids.
I also spent much of the day on the couch with her massaging her head and kissing her forehead - my family's method of checking for a fever (we do use a thermometer when the child feels hot).
I got out the humidifier simply because it's what my mom would do.
And I told Tilleigh a million times how much I love her.
Being sick is not fun, but being taken care of by a doting grandmother can have a healing effect because, as we all know, love is a good medicine.
Contact Karen Nazor Hill at khill@timesfreepress.com.