As far as I'm concerned, Zicam is the new wonder drug of the ages. Ages 1, 2, 4, 6, and 30 (oh, all right, and 31), to be exact.

I picked up my first box in a desperate attempt to find something that would stop my husband from sneezing and sniffling and coughing and keeping me himself up all night. Again. The only box of meds I could find that didn't have something that would bother his salicylic intolerance was this orange box of medicated spoons from Zicam.

So I brought it home, showed it to my ever-skeptical-of-medicines husband, and urged him to try one.

Within twenty minutes, even he was impressed. His nose was no longer running, evidenced by the lack of tissues literally shoved up his nose (a trick from his high school teacher in Brazil, and one I am not fond of, which adds to his delight). He could laugh freely, unfettered by coughing, at my disdain for his pile of tissues.

So I looked Zicam up on the Internet. Intrigued (the tales of loss of smell notwithstanding...everyone has to have his gripe), I picked up a box of their homeopathic nasal swabs. These you are supposed to use at the first sign of a cold (runny nose, dry throat, that achy feeling, whatever makes you think, "I think I might be coming down with something"). Clinical studies have shown these swabs stop a cold in its tracks (scientifically speaking). Oh, all right, they show that those who used the swabs had a cold for an average of 3 days, while those who didn't had a cold for an average of 10. I swabbed each of the children (except Edee, as it's labeled for ages 3 and up) at their first sniffle.

AND WAS AMAZED. By the end of the next day, no one (except Edee) was still sniffling. Three weeks later, Edee was still sniffling. So, at the unbelievable urging of my husband and with my typical disregard for labeling, I gave Edee some. And two days later? She was done sniffling.

I am sold. Except for Edee and my husband (pre-Zicam), we have all avoided colds this winter -- which makes a HUGE difference when there are so many little bodies to keep sharing the germs. And I've read that some people use it BEFORE they go into a germ-infested area, like an airplane or, well, church.

Works for me.