Sooner or later it happens—if you are parent to more than one child, eventually (and, perhaps, more often than you’d like) you are going to have to face the adventure of having them sick with different illnesses. Throw on top of that the fact that you might be feeling a little under the weather yourself and it can be hell! How can one (or two) parent(s) play nursemaid to an entire sick ward?
I do not really know how we do it—those of us with multiple children have surely had to face having one with a cold, one with an ear infection or the flu, or even going through a variety of ever-juggling illnesses in a particularly challenging winter flu season. Some parents try to keep the illnesses separate while others figure that everyone is going to eventually be exposed to everything anyway, so why try to fight the inevitable?
I found that it was imperative that I try to look after my own health when my kids were seemingly sick with everything. I DID tend to try to keep people separate since I assumed their immunes systems might be compromised and I tried to pay attention to cleanliness so we weren’t just swapping germs. But, I did find that I had to find ways to take care of myself so that I didn’t get sick with everything and anything—eating right, washing my hands, keeping some fresh air moving through the house, and taking naps when I could all helped me stay healthy while trying to divide myself among multiple illnesses.
I think it also helps to have a great, sympathetic doctor who can see multiple children, make room in a busy schedule, and give you advice on how to keep illnesses and contamination from spreading. I had the one who was willing to help me learn about prevention in addition to treating the symptoms.
Finally, don’t hesitate to ask for help. We are all only human, even if parenting might call on us to be super-human. If you’ve got multiple illnesses going on in your house, you might need a friend or family member to come in and help out—especially if you feel yourself coming down with something too!
See Also the HEALTH Blog