You know she's right. (Missing Mississippi: Notes from a Dixie exile)

You know she's right.

I will be the first to acknowledge that I have at various times in my life mocked my mother for her adamant faith in herbal and homeopathic remedies. Usually, the mocking entails me referring to her collection of herbs as "grass pills" or suggesting that I might as well take a spoon full of sugar and then try to fly out the window like Mary Poppins for all the good her remedies will do me. But this weekend, I started feeling the first signs of my annual case of "a cold that turns into a secondary infection that turns into bronchitis that turns into borderline pneumonia." So, in a panic, I called (who else?) my mom. On her advice, I have spent this weekend alternately chugging massive quantities of water, vitamin C pills, echinnacea and zinc lozenges. And I have to say, it seems to be working. I'm not feeling fabulous, but I expected to be feeling much worse. I am not willing to come down off my high horse and become a full fledged herbal convert. But I may have to admit that there might be a little piece of truth in my mother's all natural philosphy. (I love you, mom! Sorry I said you were crazy!)
So readers, today's question is: What is the one thing your mother is more right about than you care to admit?

Posted on November 6, 2004 11:18 PM | Permalink

Comments (6)

Jeannette:

My mom does the same thing!! (I think it's because we couldn't afford to go to the doctor.) I have hated the vitamin chest with pills only meant for horses and the "weed tea" (as I call it). "I mean, really Mom, we pick the flowers of this stuff for table arrangements, and you want me to DRINK it!?" (referring to echinacea purpurea). It's so nice to know that someone else's mom does the same thing...
And, ahem, our parallel universes collided again this weekend, as I too battled my deep-chested cough with echinacea tea and enough vitamin C to deplete an orange grove...it seems to be working. :-P

Posted by Jeannette | November 8, 2004 11:35 AM

Posted on November 8, 2004 11:35

Haley:

Oh, Jeanette, the childhood memories of growing up with an herbaholic mother. The stories we could tell. I bet you, like me, were the only kid on your block saying "But moooom! I just want to go to the doctor!" Also, although I love living in a city with a couple of Whole Foods grocery chains (May Whole Foods thrive and prosper. Amen.), my mom's brief Tofu Spell of 1993 is not fondly remembered in family lore. We thought she was trying to kill us. Here's a wild guess: did y'all ever make your own bread? If the answer to that is yes, then we should just go ahead and start researching hospital records to see if we were swapped at birth. Good luck with the cold ... and, in the words of my/your mom: "Try the zinc lozenges! They really work!"

Posted by Haley | November 8, 2004 12:58 PM

Posted on November 8, 2004 12:58

Jeannette:

YES!!! My mom used to make these huge loaves of whole wheat bread from flour she got at the mill. I used to remember dreaming about store bought sliced bread...you know the kind that didn't fall apart when you made sandwiches.
We weren't allowed to drink Koolaid either. My mom made this stuff we called "New Age Tea", it was basically steeped mint leaves, with a tad of sugar, and chilled.
I'm trying the Hall's Vitamin C drops. I'm liking them. Just a little more sleep (the ultimate panacea) and I'll kick this thing yet.

Posted by Jeannette | November 8, 2004 7:23 PM

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