Au naturale

I must be a bad mother.

I am the person who does not take medicine for the slightest discomfort or sickness. I try to tolerate sickness and pain as much as possible, resorting to natural remedies as much as I can: just calamansi or dalandan juice or water for colds, soup for headaches, or just plain “hilot” or sleep for pain (and colds)! I guess I’m not a “medicine” person. My battle cry is “As long as you can tolerate it, don’t take any medicine.” And I usually win (I can count with my fingers on one hand how many times I drank medicine in the past year…well, not counting the weight loss pills though.)

I carry on this habit to Princess Wendy, and I guess I might get (and did get) a lot of flak for it. While most parents insert a spoonful of medicine at the first sign of cold or bring their child to the doctor at the first cough, I don’t. Wendy has had tonsillitis for a couple of times already but would you believe that I’ve given her antibiotics just once? I just tell her to avoid sweets and to not drink cold water, and the bacteria just goes away. When she has fever, I wait hours before giving her medicine. There…I am a bad mom!

(photo from Herbal Remedies)

But let me stress first that this does not mean I don’t take my and Wendy’s health seriously, especially hers. Because I DO! When I have no choice, I let her take medicine; when it is obviously something serious, I take her to the doctor. I guess I’m just lucky that Wendy and I are not that “sakitin” (Wendy has gone to a dermatologist more than she has gone to any other kind of doctor) [knock-on-wood].

My point of view is this: Medicine is to be taken only when needed. There will come a time that, after long-term ingestion, they will no longer work, and I need my body to be prepared for more serious battles, hoping that medications will work.

More importantly, natural is better right?

(PS, I do not challenge the effectiveness of medicines, nor do I question people who depend on medicine. I think I just have a very different mindset from that of most  people.)