Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

How to Cure a Common Cold and Feel Like a Wonderful Mom

French Antique Nightgown corey amaro

Sacha came home with a cold.

Running nose,

Slight fever,

Scratchy throat,

Achy,

Feeling like Blah-Ville was residing in his body.

And I was happy to have an excuse to baby him, and he was happy to receive the extra attention.

So we sat by the fire, next to the Christmas tree, candles glowing, cold outside, dinner cooking….

 

 

 
Hemp linens and cushions

 

I told him the best way to heal a common cold is to-

Take a hot bath,

Rest,

Drink extra water,

Take echinacea and aspirin,

Rest.

He asked, "Go to bed?" 

Or just sit by the fire, read, think, be…

He sat and read.

 

Antique Corey Amaro Sheer curtains

 

This morning, after making him pile of pancakes as high as Mount Everest (French Husband came into the kitchen and said, "Sacha you need to come home more often!") we went to the doctor. Since he missed school (University) he needed a note from the Doctor to be excused.

I went too, as I needed more migraine medicine.

I do believe the entire town was in the Doctor's office, we waited two hours.

Sacha read.

I looked at magazines.

And again I was happy to be by him, even in the room with the entire town waiting for our turn to see our beloved Doctor.

 

Rosemary thyme and lavender

 

When we came home I went out to our little garden and picked some:

Rosemary,

Lavender

and

Thyme.

I told him to boil water in a big pan and put a sprig of each inside.

Then take the pan of hot water and carefully put it on a table, putting a large towel and make a tent over the pan with hot water, tucking the ends of the towel around the pan and over his head. And breath in for fifteen minutes.

To do this before going to bed at night, as going outside after such a thing is not advise.

Sacha smiled, as this is our favorite cure for a common cold. He said he liked the way we do this, as it reminded him of being little.

When I was young my mom made toast with jelly and eggs, that equals comfort to this day for me.

What do you do when you are not feeling well?

 

Notes:

Soups for all Seasons

 

How to cure the common cold…

 

Why Men are Such Babies when they do not feel well?

 

Comments

27 responses to “How to Cure a Common Cold and Feel Like a Wonderful Mom”

  1. Amylia

    Hot tea, glass cold milk and homemade Chicken noodle soup with dumplings

    Reply
  2. Chris Wittmann

    Alot of sickness going around here at the moment, viral infections so the doctor won’t prescribe an antibiotic. My hubby and I have both been sick the past few days. I swear by good ol’ Vick’s Vapo rub! I plaster it all over my chest and back, throw on an old t-shirt and go to bed and keep covered up. I put it up my nose too, and as a kid I recall mom making me swallow a glob for a sore throat. I also take lots of vitamin C, drink chicken soup broth, drink tons of water with lemon, and at bedtime make a toddy of hot tea, lemon, honey and whiskey. I usually recover within a few days.

    Reply
  3. Shelley Noble

    Such love doth healing bring.

    Reply
  4. Jeannie

    Popsicles – Dreyer’s all fruit grape to be exact. They take me back to my childhood and feel so good on my scratchy throat. Sending healing thoughts to Sacha.

    Reply
  5. Jenna

    I eat something spicy, have a shot of whiskey, and get lots of rest.
    My anticold mix:
    juice one lemon, squeeze in the juice of a lemon and stir in a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and a table spoon of honey. Mix well and down all at once. then go to bed.

    Reply
  6. Ginny

    For me it’s an egg poached with several cloves of garlic and crispy fingers of toast to dip into the egg cup. That’s a Marie Souza cold cure.
    For Jim it’s hot whiskey or rum with lemon water … He’s mostly Irish!
    Well It’s really not a cure,his father said, but after a few you don’t care if you have a cold.

    Reply
  7. Lorrie

    Hot tea, chicken soup (homemade is best), a snuggly blanket by the fire, and a good book that can fall easily on your chest when you drop off to sleep while reading it.

    Reply
  8. Zosia

    Best medicine for a common cold – Mother’s Love – expressed in all the home cures you mentioned above.
    We drink ginger, lemon tea with honey. For cough we make onion syrup (slice lots of onion, layer in a jar with sugar – a layer of onion then a layer of sugar and so on -, let stand for at least 12 hours, drink the juice that will be produce, a tablespoon at a time).
    Chicken soup, inhalations like you mentioned, and Vicks ointment (or camphor oil) rubbed on one’s chest. Bed rest, reading, watching movies.

    Reply
  9. Kathie B

    Grilled cheese sandwich, applesauce for dessert, hot tea with milk and sugar. Corey, try not to catch Sacha’s cold, because kids are walking Petri dishes for viruses 😉 (So are spouses)

    Reply
  10. Kathleen

    Smiled when I read this post as this was my late Mothers cure for a stuffy nose/sinus trouble/head colds,the head over a bowl of boiling water and inhaling the steam! No herbs were used though!
    PS I cannot remember when I had a cold last though all around me here have had one recently.Toast is always welcome with a cup of tea!

    Reply
  11. Marilyn

    Hot tea for sure. Then take AirBourne when it first shows signs of starting and this sometimes makes it turn and run away. If not I like the herbal steam tent you suggested, chicken noodle soup, and sleep.

    Reply
  12. Elizabeth

    Every hour: Hot orange-spice tea and dissolving zinc tablets it, buttered toast with lots of sugar. If a sore throat, gargle with salt water, wrap a scarf around neck and lay quietly.
    Also using Zicam…THAT is a winner!
    Hope Sacha is feeling lots better.

    Reply
  13. ginamariejn@msn.com

    A mother’s love, yes. My mother had a little bell for me and I would ring it when I needed her….smile. Jello, Cambell’s chicken and stars, 7-up, scrambled eggs and toast, and orange sherbet (not all at the same time 🙂 This is my mother and this is how I mother my children.

    Reply
  14. Marie

    Baked custard. Mama always made me a baked custard
    when I was sick. Nothing else might sound good to eat, but cold, smooth, yummy custard always went down well.
    (I think it is likely that her Mom did the same for her children).
    Marie

    Reply
  15. Peggy R

    Tea and toast! That’s what Grandma gave me when I was not feeling well, or just feeling blue. Always works for me.

    Reply
  16. RebeccaNYC

    When we were sick we were allowed to have Ginger Ale…a HUGE treat in our home! That and tea and toast with butter cut into strips…because they taste better that way.
    I learned a good trick for a cough, or for when you cannot sleep…put Vicks Vapor Rub on the soles of your feet, put on socks and be amazed. (Also works for sleep issues with lavender essence)

    Reply
  17. Aimee

    Lots of tea and toast with honey, chicken soup, Veno’s cough serum, and if it’s really bad, I add whiskey to the tea-preferably Irish. I love your herb scented steam tent.

    Reply
  18. Catalina

    well; when you are an adult and have a cold, you may have a glass of warm milk with a hint of Rhum before going to bed. It works!
    but more often I use homoeopathic pills 🙂 specially as a prevention.
    rest and liquid is what works better anyway
    hugs

    Reply
  19. Limner

    Husbands do for sure here. When I ask why he doesn’t stay home from the office, he says, “Why? THAT’s where I got it.” I get his bug after I nurse him to the threshold of wellness. When he works out of state during winters, I never come down with bugs. The French holistic beads cut what I catch in half, except this time.

    Reply
  20. Liz

    Wonderfully tender post Corey…reminds us all that we need to take time to be with each other, in our busy family lives, to do some very simple things, like sit, read, laze in our living rooms rather than rush through our kitchens and out. A reminder too that we need to do this often, and not just let illness force us to slow down and stop and listen to each other. Wishing you all well for Christmas and hoping illnesses abate in time for your festivities.

    Reply
  21. 24/7 in France

    Chicken noodle soup and hot tea and toast were the main two remedies for a cold when I was growing up – we all need a little pampering from time to time!

    Reply
  22. TEXAS FRANCOPHILE

    2 Mucinex (not D just regular) in the AM only. Sleep with vaporizer on bedside table. Homemade chicken soup. Lots of fluids, I.e. Gatorade or G2. Anti bac lotion for S and other members of family. Mother’s tender love!

    Reply
  23. Amy Kortuem

    I hope Sacha is feeling better soon. I love your herbal cure!
    My mom always made me Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. I still crave it when I’m sick, though I’ve been a vegetarian for years.

    Reply
  24. Ann

    For a bad cold, as an adult, my dad would make me a hot toddy (boiling hot water, a shot of Jack Daniels, a slice of fresh lemon and a touch of cinnamin). By morning all the fever was gone. This is the best cure! But a close second is a hot lemonade with a teaspoon of honey. We have a lemon tree and it gave lots of lemons this year -tastes so fresh and relaxing.

    Reply
  25. peggy braswell

    I make Homemade chicken soup + plenty of bedrest ,tissues etc. + for that cough, try vicks on the soles of the feet with soft socks + Lots of tender love. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

    Reply
  26. Kathie B

    WARNING: Colds and influenza (la grippe) are due to the spread of viruses, not bacteria. So antibacterials, as well as antibiotics, cannot cure colds or the flu. In fact, when used where contraindicated, they contribute to the worldwide rise of antibiotic-resistant viruses.

    Reply
  27. La Contessa

    My ITALIAN husband does the same cure but instead of the herbs uses VICKS!I remember when we first started dating and I had the worse cold I have ever had in my LIFE he made me do this………..it works well if one keeps their mouth closed!Hard to do when the nose is plugged!But slowly the vapor and moisture win and take over and there is some relief!GOOD JOB MOM!Next time I will try the FRENCH WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!XXX

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions