Our only-child German exchange student discovered this past week that having sibs means sharing many things, including bathrooms and colds. After my son came down with a pretty gnarly cold, David’s was not far behind and it hit him hard.

I pulled out all the stops. I upped the quantity of fresh squeezed juice. I made two huge pots of chicken noodle soup, taking the grocery clerk’s advice to use swim goggles to keep me from crying while chopping onions. (Nice tip!) And I asked David if he wanted to take some “Wellness.”

D: Hunh? Yeah.

I hand him Wellness Formula (the ones by Source Natural which are simply amazing at the beginning of a cold) and he looks at me with big question mark eyes.

D: What are these?

Me: Wellness.

D: Oh…I thought you meant like the steam thing in the gym…

Many of our conversations go like this as he learns different nuances here.  But I was intrigued.

Me: You mean the steam room is called “wellness?” That’s so cool.

D: Yeah. Like all those things. Like the hot tub. The steam room. All those things.

I thought this was a really cool concept. All those things keep us well, don’t they? Before the cold sets it, before we have to claim our own kleenex box, and bed for the day, if we just spent a little more time in the steam room and jacuzzi, we would discover where real wellness lives.

So here’s what I did. After souping, juicing, doling out decongestants and lots of fluids, I hopped in the hot tub for a little Wellness myself.