Cold Season / Jahreszeit der Erkältungen

Nikolas came down with a cold yesterday, his nose starting to run in the morning. By mid-afternoon, a cough had kicked in that continued off and on through the night. Thanks to children's Benadryl (which we brought with us), he was able to get a good enough stretch of sleep so that he awoke happy and ready to go.

We had been considering taking him to the doctor all morning while he was at school, partly because his cough had been so bad and we didn't want another difficult night, and partly because we've never been to the pediatrician here. The family before us had left a recommendation and Peter called the first week we were here, but we've had no need to go. When we picked Nikolas up from school, he was happily playing in the classroom next to his, and came out to us coughing and coughing. Peter commented on the cough to Carolina, the teacher, who said that coughs and colds and fevers and flus had suddenly sprung up all over the place. She said that of her 25 students, only 13 had come to school.

Wary of the fever and flu part as well as all the absent children, and with Nikolas' unusual enthusiasm about the idea of seeing a doctor ("I like doctors!" he declared.), we decided we'd investigate. Between the two story play castle, the cooking corner, and the set of puppets and puppet theater in the waiting room, the various rolling and turning and manipulative toys in the exam room, the fun of standing on a scale and breathing deeply for the stethoscope, and the reward of a dinosaur sticker and a syringe (minus a needle, making it perfect for shooting water in the bath!), Nikolas thought it was a great outing.

Of course, during the visit Nikolas' cough was virtually non-existent (Why does that always happen when you get to the doctor's office?), and she declared him mostly well but with a cough and a cold. Interestingly, she poo-pooed our used of Benadryl (which you cannot buy over the counter here) and recommended instead an herbal cough suppressant syrup (which you also cannot buy over the counter here) which we already knew about. She also gave us prescriptions for an herbal balsam chest rub and an herbal nasal spray. Using drugs (as in medicines) is not common practice here, unless you are really sick, and so for a common cold, they tend to stick with the home-grown remedies. Nikolas was quite thrilled with his spray and chest rub and willingly swallowed the vile smelling syrup, and is now quietly sleeping in his bed. I've never been a big believer in herbal treatments, but I guess in thinking about it, if herbal options work as well as drugs, then why not?