Today was spent performing the ultimate Mum juggle. Poorly Ethan lying on my knee watching Christmas Movies, whilst I balance my laptop on the arm of the sofa and worked from home. The flexibility of a job like mine is great because I don’t feel like I’m falling way behind, and I’m able to dive between Mum-ing and working when needed. But it also means that I’m less tempted to call the whole day off and just watch the damn Christmas films too.
Unfortunately, it’s that time of year. And while Ethan was laid up with a temperature, his cousin was lying on her own couch around the corner feeling the very same. I’m not sure whether to blame the sudden arrival of winter or their soft play date at the weekend (I despise those windowless-parent-soul-holes). But alas, they’re both ill.
So I spent my day administering Calpol to keep the temperature at bay, feeding him oranges, vitamins and rubbing his back as he coughed. Our choice of vitamins (Multivitamin, DHA & Vitamin D3) is worth mentioning, as although Ethan’s happy to take them straight, these ones can be hidden in foods and juices super easily. And they’re the only ones I could find in the health food shop where the main ingredient wasn’t sugar… Seriously.
I have oddly fond memories of being sick when I was younger. I was allowed to lie on the couch under my duvet all day long, commandeer the TV and my Mum would constantly bestow me with sympathy, fever checking hands on the forehead and any foods I wished (if I wished any). My Dad would later come home from work, often with some kind of gift and a bottle of Lucozade that he would open and allow to go flat to replenish my energy. One time, he came home with the film Titanic on VHS and an accompanying poster of Leonardo DiCaprio on the day the video was released. One of the best days of my life. It’s actually a wonder I didn’t fake sick more often!
Gavin, on the other hand, was told to go to bed and rest until he felt better. His Mum would check on him, but I don’t think there was special treatment being thrown around the place like my house. Needless to say, his school attendance record was much better than mine.
It got me wondering today about how we treat kids when they’re sick.
Did you get any special, memorable treatment as a kid?
Do you have any little cheer up traditions that you’ve formed with your kids?
Image by WE ARE // THE CLARKES
I can hand on heart say this week has been the hardest week of parenting yet. I am actually broken. Both kids were sent home last Friday. My Mum, who usually does two days childcare broke her arm so wasn’t around. We’d paid for extra nursery days adhoc to cover her usual days but couldn’t use them. Then they couldn’t go in the rest of the week because the germs have been mutating between them. Childcare has been a monster juggle. Getting up at 4am to try and squeeze in extra work (trial starts today and Tribunal next week). The saving grace is that no one has been well enough to eat so I’ve not had to worry about a food shop.
I keep seeing people sat at home on IG with ill children watching Christmas films and it’s made me feel shit. Shit at parenting. Shit at being a wife. Shit at work. Shit at being a human. All against the background of the smell of shit.
I remind myself that I normally have two healthy children and am lucky. And that Aldi candles mask the smell as well as can be expected.
Oh Rebecca!!!! Poor you – but thank god for scented candles. And TFI Friday!! Hope next week is a big improvement for you.
Oh Rebecca, my heart is bleeding for you. I know what that scramble feels like and it’s ROUGH. It’s another one of those ‘this too will pass’ things that just requires teeth gritting endurance. I hope you’re all back to full health and full sleeps soon xoxo
God I know that feeling and I’ve only had one to look after this week with chicken pox so massive hats off to coping with two. And my week has def not been instagrammable, quite the opposite. Hope you manage even just a little chill this weekend, sounds like you bloody deserve it. X
Naomi I was exactly the same as you and look on sick days with weird fond memories! Sofa days, lots of Tv which was usually limited in our house and lots of of cuddles and sympathy. Sometimes we would go to my grandads if mum had to work which meant a tin of cream of mushroom/ chicken soup for lunch. Lush!
Oh yes! The good old Campbells Chicken Soup. 😂
I remember my nanny allowing me to put my Postman Pat wendy house up in the living room on sick days. Was probably meant to be a distraction! I think I would try something similar with my son.
I’m 30 years old and jealous of your Postman Pat wendy house. Now feeling very nostalgic for wendy houses!
We have had a rubbish week with a vicious tummy bug. Paddy had it first, then Silv then me then my mum who had come to help! Ugh. Husband said he had a headache and a tummy gripe and I was like “diddums.” The man has the immune system of a hyena.
Anyway, my trick is to get outside as much as you can. Wrap up super warm if it’s a cold, but you need to not be in the fuggy four walls to stop the cabin fever. We are lucky to be very rural so can go for short walks and see nobody to infect!
Find that too much screen on top of feeling unwell results in off the scale tantrums for little miss, as proven yesterday afternoon when a snuggle filled watch of Blue Planet, Moana and her favourite crocodile documentary turned into the bedtime from hell.
You could be on to something here Lucy. I always get severe cabin fever with a bout of illness. And you’ve inspired me to trawl the Netflix Documentaries for something Ethan would love!
This is called “Invasion of the Crocodiles” and focuses on saltie overpopulation around Darwin. She is OBSESSED… could take you right back down under!
Ha, I pulled a sicky from school the day Titanic was released so I could rent it from the video shop! 😂 I was always allowed to rent a video on a sick day! X
Hahaha! Brilliant. That is an expertly orchestrated sickie!
I got no special treatment if I was ill- my mum only let us stay off school if we’d actually vomited. So much so that she actually sent me to nursery with what later turned out to be pneumonia! So I have very few memories of sick days…
Oh God… There’s all sorts of stories like this from my friends. One was sent to school on a broken foot!
This post is timely for me because Rose has hand, foot and mouth at the moment and was up most the night crying with a fever. My husband and I are doing shared parental leave and I was at work today whilst he was at home having a day of sofa snuggles with poorly Rose. I have felt so guilty all day that i’m not at home with her and looking after her whilst she’s ill. It made me wonder if working dads ever feel guilty for being at work whilst their child is ill or if it is just one of life’s maternal ‘joys’.
My mum’s a GP so we were hardly ever allowed a day off school as kids 😫 x