There’s little worse than parenting while you are sick. Parenting young children can be challenging at the best of times, but when you aren’t feeling your best, it can all seem too much. You want to give your children your time and attention, do fun things with them, feed them healthy meals, and keep the house clean and tidy, but you know full well that if you’d felt like this before kids, you’d have phoned in sick, climbed back into bed and binged your favourite box sets.
Unfortunately, when you are a mum, there’s no phoning in sick, especially if you are a single mum, or your partner works outside of the home and the main childcare responsibilities fall to you. Even though most of us have had to look after our kids while ill (or at least hungover!) from time to time, it’s not something that we ever get used to, and it never feels any easier. If you are feeling under the weather and you’ve got young children at home, here are some top survival tips to help you get through.
Get Medical Assistance
Parents are often very bad at going to the doctors. We don’t have time, so we just try to power through. If you’ve got a bit of a cold, you should be able to manage your symptoms at home without the need to see a doctor. But if you are really struggling, you don’t know what is wrong, or your symptoms are getting worse, you need to see a doctor for help. As a busy mum, looking for a private hospital near me can be a great idea. Private hospitals like those from Circle Health Group can offer quick and convenient appointments. Using Circle Health Group can mean that you get better faster and that you don’t have to worry about sitting on hold to your GP for half the day.
Let Your Standards Slide
It won’t hurt if you don’t wash up for a day. Nor will it matter if the kids skip a bedtime bath. Most of us are guilty of striving for perfection and being upset when we don’t achieve it. But our standards are usually unrealistic even when we’re on top form, so there’s no hope when we’re ill. Ask yourself what you absolutely have to do and forget about everything else until you are feeling better, or until you can get some help.
Relax the Rules
Most modern parents have rules, or at least guidelines when it comes to things like screen time. These help to promote healthy habits and are a great idea. But it’s important to remember that the odd day in front of the TV watching movies or playing games on consoles isn’t going to do any permanent damage, and as long as your kids understand that it’s a one-off because you are ill, it won’t even damage their usual routines. Relax all your rules when you need to.
Turn the TV Off
That said, you may find that you feel worse if your kids are hogging the TV, and you are lying down scrolling through social media. By all means, watch movies together and use the TV and other screens when you need to. But if you feel up to it, moving around, building dens, doing crafts, and playing easy board games together can help the time pass faster and boost your energy levels.
Call in Reinforcements
Chances are that your friends and family would be more than happy to help. But they can only do it if you let them know that you need them. Get in touch with anyone you can and ask for help. If someone can take the kids out for an hour, or just come round for a cup of tea and a bit of support, it will make your life easier.
Simplify Meals
Feeding your children a healthy, well-balanced diet is important for their development, their energy levels, and their future relationships with food. But a few days of fish fingers, beans on toast and sandwiches won’t hurt. Keep things simple, they’ll probably enjoy the treat.
Get Out if You Can
Generally, parenting is harder at home. The kids get cabin fever, they crave attention, and they bicker between themselves. This can be hard if you have a headache and can’t focus. If you can take them out for a walk, it will help you all feel better. They’ll also be more likely to snuggle up with a film if you’ve tired them out a little.
We all get sick from time to time. Unfortunately, as much as we try to protect ourselves, illness is inevitable, especially when our children are young and very good at picking up bugs. Let go of some of your rules, let yourself be ill, and remember, it won’t last long!