I’ll admit it: I have been very lucky. Since Jacob was born (exactly 18 months ago today!!), I have not gotten sick. Of course I have had days where I was feeling under the weather and certainly days when I was so exhausted and sleep-deprived that I couldn’t function properly, but I haven’t been actually sick, in a really, really long time. Jacob has gotten several colds, his most recent, 3 days ago, but I’ve remained healthy.
But now, I’m sick. Like full-blown head cold, coughing, watering eyes, violent sneezing while trying not to pee my pants (be honest: some of you know what I’m talking about here), feeling awful all over, sick. It started over the weekend.
Saturday and Sunday were rainy and so there wasn’t much of an opportunity to go out, which is good I suppose, but I’ll remind you, have a toddler. How am I supposed to be sick with a toddler? Now I know what the response could be: “your husband can take care of the baby, you need to rest.” True. My husband can and did take care of the baby a lot of the time. But, please. My son knows I’m there, and if he knows I’m there he wants mommy time. He wants to be held, he wants to play! And frankly, I want to hold him and play with him too! I have no self-discipline when it comes to time with my baby. I want to PLAY and have fun, and hold him! Moms, how do I just let myself be sick and rest, with a toddler in the house?
We did spend a little time watching Daniel Tiger on my ipad. That was good because it was low-key, he enjoyed it, and so did I. We watched this episode in which Daniel Tiger gets a cold and Mom Tiger gets sick. That’s pretty much what went down in real life so, I found it appropriate and oddly comforting. I’m pretty sure Jacob didn’t get the point of my episode selection, but just so you know I finished the episode by myself, after he had gone to bed for the night. That’s how pathetic I was feeling.
So here I am. Hello Monday. I feel 1000 times worse than I did over the weekend, except this time I can’t stay at home-I have to work! I could go home and pretend not to be there while Jaccob’s sitter plays with him, but he has spidey sense and knows when I am there. There is no hiding. So today I canceled all of my meetings and sat at my desk, staring at my computer wrapped in a blanket. There were moments when I took a little rest on the floor. A pretty sad picture.
Now I hear Daniel Tiger’s dad and Teacher Harriet in my ear singing “when you’re sick rest is best, rest is best” (If you know the tune sing along. Tell the truth: you know it), on repeat and I just wish I had listened to those wise characters of Daniel’s land of make believe.
The moral of the story is that I need a better system for when I get sick. Moms, what do you do when you are sick? How do you balance taking care of yourself and taking care of your kiddos?
Love,
A sneezy, sniffly mom
This delirious rant was brought to you by the letter Z and the number 2
Hi my name is Jennifer. I can relate to this situation. Being sick is part of my everyday life, I have Lupus. I have a five year son and was diagnosed when he was 2. You are not alone about finding the strength to time out and rest, and saying no to your son about keeping up with our motherly duties.this has been such a struggle for me but I have found if I don’t rest when I’m very symptomatic I feel worst and I’m no good to anyone. So taking some time to care for myself is a must. But, I make sure to thank my son every time for letting mommy rest. Just this Friday I was not doing well and my husband was working late so it was just me and my son. We cuddle up for the night and watched a movie. During the movie I asked my son if it was ok for mommy to close my eyes, and of course my son says yes. So, there I lay for 30 mins resting. After that time passed I made sure to thank him and tell him how much I loved him. My husband and family are a huge help too. I’m very greatful to them and glad my son I is never truly alone when I have to take a time out. Don’t feel guliy for needing to stop a moment to recover, remember our families need us and in order for us to be there we need to take care of ourselves as well 🙂 I have a poem I wrote about these kind of struggles, I will try and posted it soon. Hope you feel better soon.