Jogging my Memory

This is the tongue of my six year old. Can you see that big ol' nasty looking sore? This has been our most recent adventure in illnesses.

Three of our boys have complained of sores in their mouths. Having experienced a similar illness with our oldest child when she was about three, I didn't worry much and was just happily letting things run their course.

A good friend who reads my blog, contacted me after reading a couple posts ago about the sores and call to tell me that she didn't think it was what I thought it was and gave me her idea on it. I appreciated her call from California and made an appointment with the doctor.

This appointment ended up being of little help (but this is the topic of an entire post in and of itself). The doctor said it was just a virus that needed to run its course. With the other two boys, it did. With A, it just keeps getting worse day after day.

At this point, it seems fairly clear to me that he's going to miss his first day of school. This will break his heart. He can't wait to wear the super heroes shirt he got. His new Nikes will have to wait until a few days after. All of those sharp new pencils will sit in his backpack for a few extra days and his glue sticks will keep their caps on.

In order to assist with the healing of this sore, I was reminded of my childhood. Whenever we had a canker sore or a cold sore, my dad would get out a Q-tip and the small, green bottle of Campho-Phenique. I found some at Rite Aid yesterday and brought it home. I opened it and took a whiff. Wow! It was my childhood all over again. I could taste it just by smelling it. If you've ever smelled it, it is very distinctive. There is really no smell like it. I think that without the memories it brought, the smell would be awful, but because of the memories it evoked, it was a long lost smell--almost a pleasant smell.

The box says "for external use only." I thought twice about applying it to his tongue, but then realized that my dad, who is now nearly 82 years old has used it on multiple occasions and has led a very healthy life. It always reached its desired effect. So, A is now experiencing what I did as a child. I'm hoping it will help him. Not only that, but maybe someday smells such as this will bring good feelings into his heart after he's grown and out living on his own.