Sarah Pope

Thomas Je erson once said that if people let the government decide which foods they eat and which medicines they take into their bodies, they will nd themselves in as sorry a state as the souls of those who live under tyranny.

From the moment our children are born, they are put on the cradle-to-grave medical path. The baby has to have the well-baby checkup and a slew of vaccinations. We are taught that if our children have the slightest sniffle or tummy ache, they should be taken to the doctor right away.Antibiotics and immunizations dominate the practice of modern medicine; dietary and herbal remedies, and plain old common sense, have been stuffed into the closet like a bunch of grandma’s clothes, fusty and old-fashioned, not worth considering in this enlightened scientific age.

When we take the power back into our own hands as mothers and parents, and use the wisdom of home remedies to treat our children, we are adhering to that responsibility for health to which Thomas Jefferson referred. Instead of bequeathing the health of our children to a governmental body, parents need the knowledge and confidence to be primary caregivers.