that little voice
Submitted by margo on Mon, 02/09/2009 - 5:08pm.
My worst nightmare has come to life: my cooking may have made my visitor from Australia sick!
The bad part is the realization that my digestive organs are used to bad/contaminated/oddly prepared food, but apparently she has not been exposed to questionable intake. There are certain advantages to having a cast-iron stomach: I can eat anything!
Being a ‘mother’ with a sick teenager is another challenge that I was unprepared to tackle. When she woke me after numerous trips to the bathroom and explained she could use something for an upset stomach, I reach into my trusty medicine cabinet (that hasn’t been open since 2004) and pulled out the pink medicine we all know and love. I had her gulp down a couple of swigs of the rosy miracle drug and sent her back to bed. Then I rushed to the store and bought some soft drinks that every one tells me works on a nervous stomach, some chicken soup (2 cans), and of course cookies as comfort food.
When I mentioned her illness to the office staff, the first question was: what is the expiration date on the Pepto? How would I know? I didn’t know it would get old. I rushed back home to check the date, and sure enough, there was indeed a date stamped on it: February 20, 2005.
Back to the store I ran and then threw away the old stuff.
But the day was young. At noon she made her way to the kitchen to find something to eat, opened the two cans of chicken soup, sat down to eat, and the doorbell rang. When she returned her soup was all gone…thanks to my doglet. Apparently Chili felt she needed nourishment too! By the time I got home, Monique was pale, nauseous, hungry and pitiful looking.
I figured a 24 hour virus would be over by the next morning, but apparently something I fed her on the second night didn’t sit well either. But this time I bought 6 cans of soup, just in case she didn’t have enough soup for herself and the dog.
I would like not to take the blame for this illness. Lots of kids get sick, and they live in perfectly normal households. Besides, who would think that sour milk would make someone sick?
