I was sick - had the flu plus an upper respiratory infection - and it was the hubby's on-weekend at work. My kids - ages 27 months and 6 months - definitely weren't up for caring for themselves. And the hubby was either at work or sleeping a majority of the weekend. When you have 3 back-to-back 12-hour overnight shifts, it's hard to do anything BUT sleep when you're at home!
The Setting:
My youngest's bedroom, complete with crib for him, bed for me, and a TV. My daughter's bedroom was next door.
The Supplies:
- Mask (so I didn't spread my germs)
- Tray loaded with:
- Water bottles
- Water-filled baby bottles
- Formula container
- Empty container to store meds-contaminated breast milk for pump-and-dump
- Several juice-filled sippy cups
- Snacks for babies
- Snacks for toddlers
- More snacks for adults
- Roll of paper towel
- Kid-Friendly DVDs
- Medicine
- Tissues
- Diapers, wipes, pull ups
- Toys for a variety of ages
- A gate to prevent escape-minded kiddos
For three whole days, I was wary of going up and down stairs while sick and dizzy. So I minimized my trips. The first day, I only had to go back downstairs once. The second and third days I made a total of 3 trips up/down per day. And we hibernated. By alternating movies, shows, and toys, the kids stayed occupied and I had time to lay down fairly often and rest. Didn't get much sleep, but just the act of resting while sick is awesome. I engaged the toddler in helping the infant with toys and holding his bottle, so I could minimize the spread of germs. And although unhealthy, we ate junkier food that I didn't have to spend time preparing or get dizzy carrying up and down the stairs.
While the hubby was home, he did some of the major clothing changes and meal preps. Otherwise, we stayed out of his way to let him get some sleep and avoid passing him my germs.
What are your strategies for coping when you're sick and have kids to care for, but your other half is on-duty instead of at home?
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