Uuugggghhh. Sick with toddler. What could be worse? Maybe a hangover with a toddler? Naaah. I think a full-blown dead-of-winter death cold in January for a first-time mom with a very young child has got to be the most soul-crushing motherhood experience—even worse than shaving the pubes around your C-section scar. And ALLL you want to do is beg your husband to stay home from work; but you can’t because that would mean you too are a young, whining child who needs looking after, and you are not! You are a MOM!
This is how you handle it. Wake-up moaning and crying so your husband feels bad enough to do the early-morning potty time and get breakfast started with Elmo. Lay there for as long as possible, you will need every ounce of energy. When you are able to rise, go straight to the bathroom. Turn the lock. Take a hot shower until someone notices and impatiently raps on the door. Get dressed. You’ll only feel more sick if you stay in pajamas. Drink lots of coffee, take Robitussin and Motrin (which I found to be a great combo for a cold!). Eat something. Again, you’ll need your energy. Sit on the couch with your eyes closed until husband leaves.
Now, I have a thing about TV and my child. I like a little children’s programming but not too much. She turns into a zombie with the TV and it bothers me. On a sick day though, I let her watch an extra 30 minutes in the morning. Even if I’m dying, it still bothers me, so it’s off no matter what by 9:00. That leaves 4.5 hours until naptime (mine and hers). I find crafts are something you can do while sitting at a table and you can stretch it out for the entire morning if you’re creative.
Take this project for example: Josie loves to paint, so I decided to use an Elmo T-shirt that’s too big for her as an art smock. Then during my Robitussin-Motrin-Coffee trip, I had and epiphany. We could decorate her art smock and then she could wear it and make more art, and I could sit on the couch with a pile of pillows and talk to her with my eyes closed while she kept herself busy with art projects ALL DAY!
What you’ll need:
Lots of buttons
Small fuzzy balls
Fabric glue
An old oversized shirt for a smock
Sit at the table with your youngster, cough drops, kleenex, and hot tea. Rest head in one hand while you release drops of fabric glue with the other hand. Put glue all over that shirt and then let ’em at it with the buttons and fuzz balls! This will easily take up an hour and then when you’re done, she can wear it do another project that involves quiet sitting instead of running around the house—and you can kind of get the rest you need.
