Placebo Effect
Cardin woke up the other night with the croup and since then, her nose has been a continuous stream of snot. She still hasn’t grasped the whole “blow your nose concept” so we run after her with a Kleenex trying to keep the green slime out of her hair and mouth. Another perk of parenthood is you then acquire that same head cold.
When she doesn’t feel well she will typically ask for “medcine” and usually won’t back down; throwing a major hissy fit until she gets some. Since I’m not keen on drugging my kid unless she’s running a fever, we’ve come up with a “placebo” medicine. Take heed Internet, this is where I let you in on one of the tricks of parental manipulation. Don’t be flabbergasted Internet, I bet you $500 that your parents used bribery and manipulation on you too!
I fill a syringe with Kool-Aid and we pass this off as “medicine”. Listen Lady, it’s not my proudest moment as a parent, but it’s a win-win. Cardin is none the wiser and we aren’t answering calls from social services. She takes the placebo medicine and we go about our merry business without question. Who knows how long this trick will last, but for now we gratefully accept the calm it brings.
As a side, I need to make this disclaimer:
Dear 17 year old Cardin,
I credit Daddy with this burst of creative genius, as he originally had the idea to supplement grape Kool-aid for baby Tylenol in order to save us a major meltdown and inevitable puke session. Mommy would never be so stealthy.
ps. Santa didn’t really sign all those Christmas presents
Love,
Momma