My son and I are on yet another round of antibiotics, this time for strep throat. I’ve always been a bit cautious with antibiotics, I suppose because my father is an immunologist and rarely drugged us as kids. He sort laughed off that notion it seemed everyone else had that if your nose runs, all you need to do is call the doc and load up on some antibiotics. My father argued that antibiotics did nothing for viruses, the cause of the flu, most sore throats, bronchitis and the common cold. If anything, he said, taking them unnecessarily could arm …read more

It has been five weeks since my son came home from school with strep throat. But somehow the virus must have lingered maybe on his backpack or his toothbrush or his delicate skin because this weekend the same virus leveled me. When my son comes down with a cold or fever, I expect to catch his ailment. I usually don’t, which I credit to a healthy immune system that built up strength when as a kid I tangled with a variety of mud, germs and lake water. Besides, people are most contagious up to two to three days before they …read more

With the threat of N1H1, strep throat and a host of other germs swarming around, it’s more important than ever to teach your children the importance of washing their hands. If your kid is anything like mine, getting him to sit still and sudsy up long enough to sing the ABCs and rinse thoroughly takes an act of patience. Airborne has found a clever way to make this job a little easier for both kids and parents – SquidSoap.
SquidSoap is the only liquid-soap dispenser with a specially designed pump that stamps a child’s hand with a vegetable dye. It takes …read more

This may land me in the annals of bad mothering, but there is something about my son when he gets feverish that makes my heart turn to mush. He becomes this steamy, floppy, clingy creature and it takes effort on my part not to constantly hug him and kiss him. He’s like that today, feverish. It came with a headache, vomiting, sniffles and a sore throat. I took him to the doctor this morning, where he claimed to feel fine. His fever suggested the same, but the swab test didn’t lie. He had strep throat. Four hours later he was …read more

Several days ago (Thursday evening)  I got a severe sore throat, so severe that I was unable to swallow any foods or even drink water. I was restless at night because my neck hurt and I started having hot flashes.
On Friday I took AJ to his Kindergarten physical and almost asked his pediatrician to look at my throat because it was still hurting but my head was not…and I was totally confused. I get chronic Sinus infections but I have not a s sore throat since I had my tonsils out in High School.
On Saturday I was worse but HAD …read more