I wasn't going to share, for fear of sounding like a nutcake...but my secret is out. Several people have asked why I have onions sitting around the house lately...so I'll explain.
(and I'm knocking on 3 kinds of wood as I type...tricky, I know.)
We've had a pretty healthy winter here. (gulp.) Yes, I just typed that. (more knocking.)
We had our usual hit of stomach virus, followed by a devastating round of high fevers and coughs...nearly a whole month of illness back in November though. And in a depserate willingness to try anything from getting sick again, I took mom's advice...and filled our house with white onions. And we haven't been sick since. Seriously. Last week, a few of the kids had runny noses...but that's it.
I don't know if it's just good luck, or the fact that we had everything early, and our immunity is stronger...I don't know. There's been a TON of illness this season, and we've so far managed to avoid it. (still knocking.)
Mom read in an e-mail from her cousin (who's used this method for years, and swears by it) that if you keep whole white onions in your rooms, they help to absorb/or somehow rid your home of germs. ?? I don't know, really?? Well, after our month of yuckiness in November, she promptly brought over a bag of onions, and dispersed them throughout the house...one in each of the bedrooms, and one in the kitchen...placed in a bowl on a shelf...out in the open, but out of plain sight. And voila. I noticed in January some of them were starting to get soft spots, so I replaced all of them with fresh. For the cost of a bag of onions...it seems worth a try.
Mom placed onions throughout her house as well, and it's the first winter she and dad have made it through without illness in awhile as well...although, we're usually the ones to pass it to them, so I don't know?
Anyhow. Have any of you ever heard of such nonsense? Or do you have some other nutty remedy you've been holding out on us? I've never googled it to see if there's any medical truth to it...but so far (still knocking) it's working for us, and I'll certainly give it a try again next fall (especially near Thankgiving, which seems to be when we're most vulnerable!)
Let me hear back from you on this...
Edited to add: my brother/sister-in-law just e-mailed me to "debunk" this myth. Snopes says it's just not true. Well darnit, anyhow. And I thought it was workin' for us;)
