Saturday, January 2, 2010

Out with the Old

If Daylight Saving Time provides a good reminder for changing batteries in smoke detectors, I'm going to suggest using the New Year as a catalyst for getting rid of expired stuff in the house.

Last night, after Middle Child decided he'd need something to help him sleep through his cough, I combed through the medicine cabinet in search for some Delsym. I found some and gave him enough to help him sleep plus plugged in the humidifier from his sister's room. (With explicit orders from her to return it.)

But while hunting for cough syrup, I realized the medicine cabinet could use a culling-through. I pulled out tubes of ointment way past their prime, expired prescriptions (that were supposed to be taken until gone) and nearly empty bottles of cough suppressants.

Now, when someone needs a little help getting through a period of congestion or some creme for a bug bite, I know everything in the cabinet is current--and what I need to buy next time I'm out shopping.

Next stop: The Pantry. Just how old is this can of Manwich?

1 comment:

Elizabeth Lynd said...

My in-laws have stuff in their pantry with expiration dates of 2005. They moved to Texas in 2006. What does this tell us?

On the other hand, a friend who happens to be an anesthesiologist (so I presume she knows what she's talking about) had no qualms about her son using an "expired" asthma inhaler of mine a few years ago.

What do I take from this? Food, toss--meds, who knows? Then again, my daughter had an unexplained facial blow-up last spring, and the only thing we could think of was the lightly expired sunscreen we'd used. (Yes, I'm cheap, and that stuff is pricey--though cheaper than the co-pay, come to think of it.)

Better to toss. Happy New Year!