More Pondering Kids and Meds

So my brain is meandering around some of this, not to beat it to death.

I avoid giving myself (and kids) medicine unless the risk of not taking it is greater than the inconvenience and the side effects. Not because I'm a martyr and I like pain and head colds or have strong convictions about it but because I'm horrible at taking medicine. I forget. :)

But this brings up another facet of this. The whole issue of over-medicating kids in our culture (not just in cases of ADHD) is an interesting issue. My friend's daughter stayed overnight with my kids once. She had a cold. My friend left me with about 5 different over-the-counter cold meds to give this four-year old before she went to bed, each for a different cold symptom. Needless to say that little girl slept very soundly! I have trouble getting my mind around this.

Another facet: I've also wondered about kids growing up in sterile houses. I wonder if parents clean to keep kids healthy because the kids get sick all the time or whether they actually get sick more often because they're never allowed to build up any immunities. A Catch 22, I guess.

Even though the general population is probably healthier than it was 200 years ago, babies live, most children grow to adulthood, most women survive pregnancy and childbirth but we're still afraid.