Well, not a lot has changed in the last couple weeks. Somehow sickness continues to interrupt life as we know it. I managed to survive last week parenting solo as Matt was at a conference all the while I was being plagued with a stomach virus. We thought that all was well again, on the road to health, until Jenna got sick last night. It seems to be a different virus than mine which means we may all get this one too, but I’ll try to keep my worst case scenarios just to myself.
So what do you do when sickness interrupts (over and over again)? How do you cope with the sometimes sleepless nights, having to cancel plans again, cleaning up someone elses vomit, watching your kids feel crummy, and feeling somewhat useless?
I’m here to say that I don’t always cope very well with any of those things. I get irritated and impatient with the fact that my plans are being altered and interrupted. So here are some things that I’m trying to remind myself of right now and activities we will try to do to help us make it through the not so fun days of sickness.
- Enjoy the down time. I don’t know about you but I keep our schedules too busy and this forces time at home, doing little to nothing (well besides the caring for needs all hours of the day).
- Let go of the guilt. I have a hard time canceling on others and feel guilty. But there’s nothing you can do about getting sick. Just let the guilt go. Your friends will understand.
- Enjoying TV will not kill your kids. That’s what sick days are supposed to be about. Mind numbing hours in front of the TV, guilt free. (I have trouble with guilt obviously.)
- Read books, build legos, look through photo albums, take naps (guilt free naps I might add).
- Walk around the block for fresh air.
- Make a card for a friend. Think about others, it might help take your mind off how bad you or your kids feel.
- Make a list of things you’re thankful for. (All I have to do is turn on the news and see the devastation in places like the Philippines and it puts things in perspective.)
- Make a list of things you want to do during the holiday season together that will make them more meaningful.
- Listen to worship music.
- Memorize scripture.
- Ask for help if you need it. This is hard for me to do but sometimes you just need a friend to bring you a chocolate bar (or drink) and some more ginger ale.
Now, to do some of the things I just put on the list. It seems we’ll have another day at home with sickness tomorrow so we’ll have a chance.
What about you? What do you do to make it through the long days of sickness when they arrive at your house?
The fricken plural of lego is LEGO!!!!!!;-)
The correct spelling of “fricken” is fricking…or at least frick’n. 🙂