What to do when mama's sick?
Tis the season to be sick! We can have tons of ideas of how to entertain a sick toddler, but what do we do when we ourselves are sick? Are there things left undone? How do we give attention to the kids if we're lying in bed? An urbanMama emails:
For the last month, it's been one cold after the next in our household. My son is 11 months old and HATES staying at home all day with nobody to play with. But when he's sick or I'm sick, we can't make play dates with friends. I've had a cold with coughing and sneezing for 4-5 days now. We've been reading books and playing with toys and taking the occasional walk, but he's extremely bored and antsy. I foresee a lot of this in the upcoming months. How do you cope when Mama's sick?
I have an emergency box. Meaning the emergency of mamma being ill. I keep DVD's of recorded programs (my 3 and 5 year old pretty much never watch TV), craft kits I got at the dollar store, cookie mix, a reem of plain white paper (my 5 year olds favorite thing in the world) and the most important thing....a ten dollar bill and the numbers of a few mother's helpers in my neighborhood. I came up with this recently after having the worst flu that left me on the couch with two bored and needy children. I managed to get through it with the help of play dates and my husband working out of the house. I did end up calling a neighbor girl and asking her if she would like to earn some extra money by coming over and playing with my girls. I didn't have any cash on me and felt silly writing this girl a check. I'm still throwing things inside the box when I think of it.
Posted by: Rosanne | October 09, 2008 at 10:24 PM
I usually just muddle through if it's a cold. But for the flu (last year I had a fever for 5 straight days) my husband stays home or I farm out the kids to friends. Thank God for my friends and my husband's flexible workplace. I don't know how I'd do it, otherwise.
Posted by: Zinemama | October 10, 2008 at 08:42 AM
If I'm sick, and my daughter isn't, I have found respite in the play gyms offered by THPRD are great. The kids can entertain themselves with the many toys & tunnels, etc. and parents can either play too or take breaks on the sidelines :)
Posted by: Ana | October 11, 2008 at 10:38 AM
how timely... this past week I was very sick, "working" from home and mostly without my husband. i coped by, basically, locking the door and buying two loaves of bread (usually, I bake bread, but definitely wasn't in this state!). the boys made themselves bread and honey and I dozed on the couch. thank goodness I am possessed of a six-year-old who can (sometimes) entertain his little brothers.
I've found that, with my kids, if I use the TV/computer game tool, I'll end up paying for it later (usually with an extremely hyped-up bedtime that just won't stop, and lots and lots of begging for more). so I instead just let them make a terrific mess. on thursday, the boys got every stuffed animal in the house out, organized them into families, and "rescued" them. then they made a packing peanut explosion in our spare room. I'll be cleaning THAT up for days to come! but they got to bed at a decent hour, thank god.
I love the idea about an emergency box. you never have the energy to go get cash when you're really desperately sick.
Posted by: sarah gilbert | October 12, 2008 at 09:57 PM
My TV is the answer. I'm not proud, but it works. I like the idea of an "emergency box". It's genius!
Posted by: Lady Jane | October 13, 2008 at 05:24 PM