Broccoli Bonanza!

Now, let's talk about drug-seeking behaviour, shall we? 

Sonwun has now reached the age, at 6, that I believe kids should NOT be taking children's medication. I'm not referring here to dosage, but to flavour. Quite simply, his medicine should at the very least, not taste good. I'd even put in a vote for making it taste like old sweat socks.

As I monitor his ear infection, I am judging the progress by how long his medication lasts. On the first night, a 10ml dose of delicious grape-flavour ibuprofen lasted about 3.5 hours. This has now stretched to 7.5 hours. I see this as progress.

After receiving a dose at 1:30 yesterday morning and upon awakening at 6 a.m., he asked for more. He said he preferred the pill, the delicious Orange Burst children's Tylenol. He wasn't complaining about an earache, he just wanted his pill. I put him off and he went about his business. 

(A quick aside here: Note that the generic medication I bought, the ibuprofen, is merely called "grape-flavour" while the name brand Tylenol is "Orange Burst." That's why you pay marketing people, and I guess that's one of the reasons it costs more.)

By breakfast he was asking for, and excited about, two pills. His daily vitamin and a delicious Orange Burst Tylenol. Again, no complaining about the ear, just wanting the drugs. I put him off again. 

As he made his bed, after breakfast, I could hear him in his bedroom.

"Ouch . . . ouch . . . ouch . . . OUCH!

Now here we must consider quality versus quantity. He "ouched" four times, getting progressively louder, to get my attention. But there wasn't even a hint of whine in his protestations of pain. He was just speaking the words. As plainly as he would say "are we having Cheerios this morning?" Actually, I'd say the Cheerio question probably had a touch more passion to it.

Anyway, I put him off again.

But by 9:30 a.m., I could actually hear the pain returning. I knew that he was actually feeling something beyond mere mild irritation. The whine was back. Time for the medication. Told him this was extra powerful and would last until bedtime. We'll see how that little parental white lie works out.

So, my suggestions for the name brand, as well as the generic children's medicine people. 

1. Make some new flavours for these occasions. I suggest Tuna, (Terrific Tuna for the brand name folks), Broccoli (Broccoli Bonanza), Brussel Sprout (Bodacious Brussel Sprout), I Can't Believe it's Not Eggplant! (that one needs no marketing boost, the exclamation point sells it) and the aforementioned Sweat Sock (Sweet Sock). The cool thing about Sweet Sock, is that you can name the dosage with fun stuff like "Short Stroll" for the kiddie version, "Long Hike in the Woods" for the adults and "New York Marathon Strength" with codeine. I KNOW he won't seek them out if there's no pain. If there is pain, he'll have to weigh the benefit of the medicine against it's horrid flavour. Everybody wins.

2. If you must make Grape, Bubblegum and Orange Burst, kindly include in the 20-tablet bottle at least five placebos. It will help if I can give him something with absolutely no medicinal ingredients to help my gauge his progress. I mean, if the placebos work, I know I can send him to school with a couple that he can take if the "pain" becomes too much. Everybody wins.

Your welcome for the suggestions.

Anyhoo, it's now Thursday morning. We made it from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. on a single dose. This is good news!

And speaking of good news, here is my little hydroponic project, Day 9:

Lemon Basil and Oregano

Italian Basil

Have a great Thursday.