Swallow it!
Posted by Dory @ Lucky Dorito on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
Last night as I stood at the sink and tossed back some water and a couple of Extra Strength Tylenol, I had a momentary flashback of my mother that made me smile.
I remember sitting at the dining table for what felt all darn day when I was about 10 years old (probably around the time the picture of me to the left was taken!) - with my mom and a little yellow allergy medicine pill. I had to learn to swallow it! Funny how you can swallow big bites of half-chewed food when your 10 but the thought of that itty bitty pill going down? Uh huh. No way.
I’d stick it in my mouth, grab a swig of water and … and …. the water would go down and I’d start to choke and/or gag and I’d fish the pill back out of my mouth with my fingers and say, “I can’t do it!”
My mom would say, “Yes, you can.” And we’d continue to sit there. In fact, if memory serves me correct, she told me that we’d sit there ALL DAY if we had to - we were not getting up until that little pill had been swallowed.
In my mind’s eye, I can remember my sisters floating in and out of the room - talking about this or that. Me hoping my mom would get distracted and I could sling away - her probably wishing I’d just DO IT and get it over with!
The little yellow pill got wetter and wetter and was beginning to lose it’s protective coating with each unsuccessful attempt at swallowing it. And it was bitter tasting. My mom said, “You’d better get it down before it starts dissolving - it’ll be gross.”
Another attempt. Another failure. Probably ten minutes was passing between each attempt while I *worked up my nerve* to try again - so we literally must have sat there for hours. Of course, when you’re 10 - a hour trapped doing what you don’t want to do feels like a hundred, right?
Finally, with the looming threat of a broom handle and something about ramming it down my throat, I did it! And you’d have thought I’d just won a million dollars the way I whooped and hollered and jumped around, congratulating myself! My mom had the patience of a saint that day, I tell ya.
