Sunday, June 6, 2010

when mom is sick

I was reading Jule's very real post today about her family's bout of stomach flu and recalling my own family's bad experience with it just a couple of months ago when it occurred to me that preparing a husband for when mom gets sick might be a good idea.

Like an earthquake kit of sorts, sharing this list with dad as sickness settles in might make the bout a little more bearable:

What I Do Not Know Won't Hurt Me: The house is not going to be as neat as it usually is if I'm out of commission. Since I'll be mostly bed-ridden, please create an illusion of order and cleanliness by maintaining the surrounding areas in order. I won't have enough energy to find a huge pile of dirty clothes and toys in the children's bathroom tub. Feel free to pretend everything is clean by throwing it all in there.

Set The Alarm: When I got the stomach flu, Alain took care of the boys with no complaints. He fed, diapered, bathed, entertained, and all the other "eds" on his own and let me recover. The only improvement I can suggest is that checking in on me once every three hours or so might be a good idea. You know, just in case I pass out on the floor or need water.

Bring on the Pity: My suggestion would be that Alain do everything under his power to bring up feelings of pity and sympathy for him. The poor dad taking care of the boys and a sick wife all by himself is a good case to make. Strategically sharing the news with our friends and family will bring all kinds of babysitting, cooking and cleaning support.

Where was Alain when Luca sat on me while I recovered from foot surgery?
Why, taking the picture, of course!

Anything you would like to suggest for making mom's life during sickness a little easier?
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6 comments:

  1. LissyJune 7, 2010 at 10:02 PM

    That is such a funny picture!!!

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  2. UnknownJune 7, 2010 at 10:39 PM

    You know, you could have posted this last week and I would have greatly benefited from this advice ;-)

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  3. PuaJune 8, 2010 at 5:03 AM

    Oh man, if only I would have given my husband some of these tips a couple of months ago when I got sick. Instead, my husband was so over-whelmed he didn't know what to do at all! He didn't know where anything was kept so every 15 minutes he would walk into the bedroom and wake me up asking "where are the diapers and wipes? Where's the swifter? What does the baby eat?" It didn't occur to me that the non-primary caretaker wouldn't already know all this.

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  4. Melissa (@adventuroo)June 8, 2010 at 9:37 AM

    That last picture is too funny! I love "strategically sharing the news." I do that too. Be all non-chalant and then whine that I could sure use a home cooked meal! LOL

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  5. AnonymousJune 8, 2010 at 12:31 PM

    I think that if he did all that he did a great job. Checking on you does sound important. Stopping from SITS!

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  6. LiciaJune 9, 2010 at 10:19 PM

    Yes! I have a very good husband! It's partly our fault when they keep asking for things since, if we pretended to be sleeping, they would likely figure it out on their own within a few minutes.

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