Coping with a Sick Child at Home: A Mother’s Tale

Today I am sharing some private details of my “Mum Life” with 3 kids. To be clearer: My life. This week. With 3 children. One of whom was sick. Oh, and Hubby was on the road for work for a couple of days.

Let’s just let go of our inhibitions and get crystal clear here what I have been up to: This week I had my- gloved! Hey! I still have some dignity 😉- hands in some gigantic puddles of vomit.

There. I said it.

Are you still with me? Or are you running for the bathroom already?!?

Why did I have my hands in the re-runs of someone else’s lunch? Because I’m a mum. And that’s what we do. Not because it’s fun. But because there is a child who needs you and there’s a job to be done and you just do it.

So between the tears and vomit and frustration and breaking heart and a scared little face, is there anything positive to be found in looking after your sick child?

Well, yes and no. One of those “Is the glass half empty or half full” paradoxical type of situations, you know? It depends how you look at it…

Before you get ahead yourself and say “But there’s nothing positive about a child being so sick they are in hospital!” or “Terminal cancer in a child is heart-breaking!”, I would say those situations and anything like them are terrible and I wish that on no one. I am unimaginably grateful that this is not the case for my family.

That said, we’ve had our fair share of visits to the emergency department and overnight stays for things like tonsillitis and concussion and gashes to the head and tick removal. Actually, now that I think about it, most of those have happened to just one of my children… poor thing ☹. Anyway…

No, I am here to talk about the ups and downs of having an unwell child at home, with any one of the garden variety of germs they infect themselves with at kindergarten and school. You know, the stuff your child will inevitably have at some point: headaches, snotty noses, fevers, and well, projectile vomiting.

One day this week Master 6 started the day with a nasty sounding husky voice and cough, followed by little appetite. Nevertheless he was acting fine and had a fun day at kindy. By late afternoon he was looking pale and had a low fever. By the evening he had no appetite and wanted to go to bed. And that’s when the vomiting started…

Over one hour later of gathering all the bedding and stuffed animals and getting it all into the washing machine and moving furniture and mopping the floor and checking the surrounds like some crack CSI team for anything I missed etc etc my little guy could finally return to his room and go to sleep.

It’s at times like that I would have loved to curl up with him in my bed and just go to sleep too. There are 2 big problems with that scenario though: 1. There are 2 other kids in the house who need to some tending to (and thanking for their assistance in running for buckets and rubbish bags and mops!) and 2. I didn’t want to risk having my beautiful boy go for round 2 while lying in my bed. (Does that make me selfish?!?)

Have you ever preceded a conversation with a question like “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”? Well…

“Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible”- Marion C. Garretty

Let’s get first stuck into the negatives of caring for your sick child before we’ll look at the bright side.

And “stuck” is possibly one of the first words that comes to mind for a lot of mothers. Stuck. Like, at home. With the poor little sicky. You know how it is. You can’t go out anywhere. Not to buy bread. Not to run those errands you had planned for the day. And certainly not to work. You are staying home. All day.

And all those other plans you had too? Phone a friend, get some writing work done on your computer, get the kitchen back in order, catch up on putting away those piles of laundry? Nope, you won’t get to do them either.

You will be the one responsible for checking fevers, administering the medicine, mopping up accidents, washing dirty clothes, running the drinks and snack buffet, reading a library worth of stories, nagging about the need to take a rest and debating how much TV a sick kid can watch before their eyes go square (just like you own parents swore would happen 😉).

Day (weeks?) like this can get really frustrating. *gasp* Yes, I said it out loud. Being a Mama can be tough. And demanding. And overwhelming. And often without time for a pause. “What about MY needs?” you ask, “I love my children, but…” as the sentence trails off.

You are IT for the day. You are the one there to give lots of cuddles and wipe away the tears. Perhaps even your own.

And there’s that double-edged sword. YOU are THE ONE.

YOU are the one your child wants to snuggle up to. YOU are the one your child comes to for comfort. YOU are the one they trust to help them feel better. YOU are the one who knows just which coloured cup will cheer them up and which pillow and stuffed animal they want with them on the sofa and which flavour cup of soup they want and whether they want to puzzle or draw. YOU!

“Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children”- William Makepeace Thackery

When you’re tired or overwhelmed it can feel like a heavy burden. But again, double-edged sword 😉.

It is also a special honour. There is this little human, that has developed such a strong bond with you, that they want only to be with you, that they trust you completely to make them feel better, that you are the familiar warmth and comfort that they want and need. How amazing to know just how important and how loved you are!

“To the world you are a mother, but to your family you are the world”

So, in between all of the negatives this week my son and I have watched nature documentaries together, read countless books and coloured in. But my favourites things this week? The snuggles and cuddles from my toasty warm little guy. And listening to him spontaneously recalling things we have done together in the past. “Mama, remember when just us 2 went to the movies together?”. “Mama, do you remember the time I was bitten twice by the lorikeets?” .“Mama, do you remember that time I knocked down all 10 pins when we went bowling?” (er, no, sorry 🙈…). They are his precious memories. Of us. Of him and I together.

“The most precious jewels you will ever have around your neck are the arms of your children.”

Those are the moments that make my heart melt and make me realise that no matter how often I think I am not being “enough” or not being a “good” mother, my son doesn’t think that way at all. He hasn’t even noticed all the times I have stuffed up. And if he has, he doesn’t care. He loves and trusts me and wants to be with me.

And that is the biggest compliment any mother can receive!

Next time you are struggling with having a sick child and being “stuck” at home, take a closer look at the little things you can appreciate. You might just surprise yourself! And stay strong- you will get through 😊.

What do you do when your child is sick and has to stay home with you? Can you identify something you enjoy during that time? Leave a comment below!

P.S. Thank you so much for all of the messages of support and concern that I have received over this past week regarding the bushfire catastrophe in my homeland, Australia. It seems that for now the majority (not all) of fires are being controlled, although nobody can say for how much longer they will continue to burn. Although there have been quite a few scares and sleepless nights, I CAN happily say that all of my family and friends remain safe. Thanks again 😊