Nyquil is the new Vix by Nancy

There is no modern pain medicine as effective as a mother’s kiss.”

It hits me the night before Emily is going off to college.  I awake and realize that she is going to be over a thousand miles away!  What is she going to do if she gets sick?  Or…putting it more accurately….What am I going to do?

If she calls me to say “Mom I don’t feel so good.” I won’t be able to reach through the phone and feel her forehead for a temperature.  I won’t be able to check her breath and see if she has that “sick smell.”  Nor will I be able to feel her glands for swelling or kiss the “ow-ee” and make it better.  How was I to cope with this problem?

The next morning, I sprung into action.  I grabbed a latched plastic case with layers of little compartments inside, the kind a fisherman would use for a tackle box.  I went to the bathroom and started rounding up my “Dr. Mommy First Aid Kit.”  Of course, she would need all the usual things in case of an emergency (bandages, Tylenol, antiseptic cream etc.) but also things for all those little "ow-ees".  Let's see.  Tweezers for splinters, the Calamine lotion for a rash, the digital thermometer, Kanka for canker sores and of course, the Nyquil.  But when I grabbed the bottle, I saw that it was only half-full.  Oh No!!!  That would not work at all! 

You see….our kids have been raised on Nyquil since they were 4 years old…the legal age per the bottle’s label. (well, maybe we fudged one time when Rachel was only 44 months but who’s counting).  Nyquil is to Ed as Windex is to the father from that movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”  Sore throat?   Give them some Nyquil.  Feeling achy= Nyquil.  Coughing, headache, can’t sleep? A little dose of Nyquil.  In-grown toenail, athlete’s foot, acne?  Nyquil at bedtime and everything is better by sunup.

I understood this “one-medicine does it all” philosophy as Mom had the same thinking.  For her it was Vix Vapor Rub.  I can truly say that every time I now open up a jar of Vix and smell that penetrating vapor go deep into my lungs, it is just like getting a long-distance hug from my Mommy.  There were so many nights when I was growing up that I remember sitting on a kitchen chair in front of the hot, open oven door with a towel on my head and Vix smothered all over my chest.....and for good measure... inside, outside and under my nose.  Now, that spells love with a capital L.  One time, I mentioned this to a friend and she said that her Mom had the very same cure-all, however, her Mom (who was a nurse) would also take a glob and put it on my friend’s tongue to make her feel better inside too.  Oh my!  Just as soon as you think your family is the most dysfunctional, you meet a kid who had no shoes.

So, after a quick trip to the drug store, the kit was now packed to the gills (excuse the fisherman lingo) with a new bottle of Nyquil and I even added a new jar of Vix (only opened once to check the smell mmmmmmm).  Emily now would be able to be doctored long distance…. which should have made me feel so much better.  However, as Ed and I drove away from her dorm, on the 1000-mile trip back to Helpless Land Arizona, why did I still feel so crappy?  As I was wiping away my tears, I asked Ed “How long do you think I’ll feel this bad?”  He patted my arm and said, “Don’t worry.  Take some Nyquil and you’ll feel much better by morning.”