My daughter has a cold. Nothing serious - a sore throat on Sunday and feeling tired with a scratchy throat on Monday. Fortunately Monday was a holiday, so she got lots of rest. However, since she's not running a fever, missing school today was not an option.

Yesterday she was able to drink lots of fluids all day, and keep a steady supply of herbs and vitamins in her system. School rule is no pills - that means no illegal drugs, no prescription drugs, no over the counter drugs and no vitamins - in the possession of students. If she was seriously ill I could take medication or supplements to the nurse's office, and she could go there to take them, but this is just a cold.

So this morning we were talking about what I could pack in her lunch and what vitamins & herbs she should add to her breakfast. She said that the high school teachers have agreed that students can have water bottles in class. (I guess they get tired of interruptions for trips to the water fountain.) She said I think I'll take a water bottle. That way when my throat gets dry, I can just take a drink. I said, put Echinacea drops in your bottle, that way you will get a steady dose all day.

When school was out this afternoon her water bottle was empty and her cold was much better. She had felt good all day. Tomorrow she will do the same thing, and that will put an end to this cold.

Echinacea is good for Type As, but would not be good for me. I started thinking about what I would do if I caught this cold. According to The Blood Type Encyclopedia I could put elderberry (proberry) drops in my water bottle. I'll put that on my shopping list. I think I'll put astragalus on the list also, as it is good for both As and Os. Unfortunately, I don't think astragalus comes in drops, so it wouldn't work in a school water bottle.