When you get sick, it’s not like back in your childless days when you could spend as long as you needed lying in bed, watching reality TV marathons, only propping your head up now and again to safely spoon-feed yourself chicken soup so you wouldn’t dribble it on your duvet.
Nope, now that you’ve got kids to take care of, there will be no sick days for you. You’ve got to get up, make them breakfast, play with them, carpool, just like a regular day.
It’s in these moments that DayQuil and NyQuil come in really handy, which is why I partnered with them on their #NoSickDays campaign to create 24 hours in the life of a sick parent. A few weeks back, I asked my readers on the Mommy Shorts Facebook page to submit pictures of the things they still had to do while they were under the weather. Which is, of course, basically, EVERYTHING.
Each one of the 24 chosen photos below gets a $50 Amex gift card and I’m giving away an even bigger prize ($500!!!) for commenting under this post. But before we get to the giveaway…
Here are 24 Hours in the Life of a Sick Parent that were featured yesterday on the @NyQuilDayQuil twitter account:
DayQuil/NyQuil Severe relieves your worst cold & flu symptoms so moms and dads can go back to doing the things we love (and the things we don’t) for our families. Dayquil Severe fights symptoms to help you stay alert and on your feet during the day while Nyquil helps you sleep and recharge for the next day. Because, NEWS FLASH, you can’t take tomorrow off either!
GIVEAWAY: $500 AMEX GIFT CARD
1) To enter, you must be a Mommy Shorts subscriber. If you are not already a subscriber, you can become one here.
2) Then leave a comment under this post talking about a personal #NoSickDays experience when you had to power through in the name of your kids. Fun times!
You can read the full rules here.
Winner will be selected randomly and announced on March 3rd.
Good luck!
Winner Update:
Congrats to $500 Amex Gift Card winner Robin! Please contact pam@mommyshorts.com to claim your prize.
———————————–
If you were one of the 24 photos featured in this blog post, please contact pam@mommyshorts.com to claim your $50 prize! Please put the time stamp of your photo in the subject so we know which one is yours.
This post was sponsored by NyQuil/DayQuil but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
I’m not a parent, but I’m a teacher, so I’ve definitely experienced the feeling of not being able to take a sick day because of kids, haha! As a first year teacher, I feel so much responsibility to be there for my classes- it makes it so hard to stay home even when I really should. Being a first year teacher also makes me extra sensitive to all those school germs! It’s not a pretty combination hahaha
When you have a baby, there is no such thing as taking a break. When I was feeling awful, my little man still relied on me to feed him, change him, snuggle with him and play with him. Mom life is the absolute best and my little man was there for me, just like I’ll be there for him when that day comes! (Really hope not any time soon) #nosickdays
Vontinued to be super mom for weeks while we all kept passing a stomach bug to each other. Needless to say it was the worse weeks of my life!
We are all just getting over being sick. Sometimes I’m the last soldier standing, which works, right?! But when Mom goes down, everyone goes down and it’s just a hot mess. Our dog ate one of our sick tissues and I was like may the odds be ever in your favor, Baxter!
The time the whole house had the stomach bug…
When my youngest was 2 months old, I had horrible food poisoning 🙁 my husband was out of town. We spent at of time playing the sleeping game and my toddler spent the day watching TV and eating pouches. Yikes.
My son got a stomach bug and wouldn’t stop committing after having to pullover to the side of the road and making it to the ER where they have him zolfran we made it home in time for my husband to go away on a business trip 24 hours later I got the same bug and was vomitting non-stop. I still had to take care of our toddler until my husband got back a few days later
Most recently, I’ve had to power through on a weekend when my husband was kind of sick, and I had meetings in the office all day long Saturday and Sunday coupled by more hours of work every evening. I’d come home around 5 and then spend the next 3 hours taking care of both of them and cooking dinner and bath time and playing and reading and getting things ready and then do my own work and pack so I could get out of the house by 6:30 the next morning. And this was just Saturday and Sunday.
Thirty-eight weeks pregnant with my second and I reacted to the flu shot and was down for the count. Drugs I could take were limited and knowing I only had a short amount of time left with my first baby, rather than rest in the evenings, I took off from my (not very physically intense) job in a vain attempt to recoup. It didn’t work and I was still flu-fogged but at least I was somewhat bearable instead of absolutely miserable!
Living in a railroad apartment in New York City with two kids is already lots of fun – a straight line for them to run down! Unfortunately my three year old caught a bug that was then passed on to my almost two year old…mommies turn to run up and down the apartment rushing kids from rooms to the tiny bathroom in hopes of making it. My husband gets home late and sees the disaster of the house…shares he’s not feeling well so takes some NyQuil and passes out! I was up for days with my babies juggling them – then my husband was sick! Thank goodness for DayQuil and Lysol – a perfect combination!
Daddy had a cold, I had bronchitis and I still had to entertain the 5 year old so my husband could rest.
Had the flu last year when I had a newborn and in laws came for the weekend. That wasn’t a fun weekend!
When I was pregnant with my third kid, I had morning sickness all day long! Smells were the worst! My boys were 5 and 18 months at the time and both got a stomach bug! Vomit and diarrhea, oh my! There was one day when the bodily fluids and horrid smells just never quit, and I didn’t think I would survive! Having sick kids while pregnant and sick was terrible!!
As a mom of two little boys and a kindergarten teacher there are never any sick days. Oh, you’re sick? Should you go to school and wrangle 22 kindergarteners and pray they brought their listening ears to school that day so you can save whatever is left of your voice or get up at 4am to throw together some sub plans via email before your own babes wake up around 5am and are ready for snacks, shows and sippy cups? Personally, I typically select to go to school. Even though staying home sick MIGHT provide a chance of sneaking in a couch nap while the baby sleeps and the preschooler is watching Paw Patrol, if you go to school you’re almost guaranteed that you’ll be able to use the bathroom in peace and enjoy 30 minutes of quiet during recess… Granted it doesn’t rain that day! ????
My last “sick day” happened to be New Year’s Eve when my mother in law and sister in law were staying with us before driving up to San Francisco for a weekend of wedding festivities. My husband and I ate a breakfast sandwich that nobody else are the day before and woke up at 5:30 am with dual stomach aches on January 31! We looked at each other and said, this is not good. As all of us moms know, my husband’s stomach was soooo much worse that anyone had ever experienced. He definitely had the first dry heaves of the day. Then I started actually throwing up and by the time our guests were awake my hubs was miserable in bed while I was up with our 14 month old and 3 year old. I remember weakly assuring his family that I was fine and they should go because I didn’t want them to miss out. Thank God they turned around and checked on us because I started fainting when I had to go to the bathroom every 20 minutes to experience delight from both ends. My Saint of a mother in law drove me to the ER where I was given fluids and medications to slow my intestines. Again, i sent them away that evening because I felt so bad that they might miss such an important to them event and I was actually feeling much better that night. I picked up my sweet 22 lb daughter and she felt like 100 lbs and my hubby was shaking and staying to open some Tylenol. I opened it for him and took his temp-101.2, poor guy. Then I took mine, I wasn’t feeling great either but figured I wasn’t as bad as him-102.7!!! Listen, we all know dads are awesome and get sick too but can we just admit that man sick is clearly much much worse than the non-existent mom sick?!? I still got up with my baby who, now at 16 months, still regularly wakes up 2-3 times per night and I still did everything I normally do the next day as my fever persisted and the prescribed drugs eventually got me back on track. Not only did I care for my 2 daughters, I cared for my 30 something year old husband and our 2 year old black lab. Cheers to sick days for moms!!
Major #nosickday for me here! I’ve just recovered from two back to back colds that turned into sinus infections while my house has been battling the stomach virus.
Not to mention I’m twenty weeks pregnant….moms can’t catch a break!
The worst ever for me was when I was 8 months pregnant, my husband was out of town and my then 2 year old gave me the stomach flu. No thank you! Puking while that pregnant seems like a physics feet that shouldn’t be allowed!
My husband and I both had a stomach virus and that darn toddler still needed to eat. Good thing he’s completely happy living on graham crackers and cheese for two days
I might not have toddlers anymore, but I have 23 five and six year olds. Kindergarten teacher. So, I get all their little cooties and have to power thru all the time. BLECH!
#nosickdays. My husband was working on a Saturday and I thought I would be fine…oh was I wrong. Thankfully my little guy knew I didn’t feel good and just played and brought me “cups” and tissues (whole role of toilet paper) ???? That day seemed like it was going to last an eternity! But I made it through!
2 weeks ago I got the worst sinus infection and with 4 kids 3 teens and 1 kindergartener I still had to get up get them ready and out the door then head over to my nannying job down the street and take care of a teething 1 year old!! Then go home make dinner and do laundry for my kiddos! Lol! Good times!
Expecting my first this summer and not looking forward to this aspect of our future lives! However I grew up the eldest of 4 kids – basically the 3rd parent. Babysitting nearly every weekend I spent a lot of time with my croup-y sister and night terror brother late at night. Ending up Sharing a bed with both of them one night, I woke up to be sick myself when much to my surprise my sister had beat me to the punch! It was all in both of our hair and all over the pillows. However, my brother had also wet the bed we were ALL sleeping in. Did I add that the room we were in had two beds in it ? Needless to say that’s where I dragged my sick body back after my trip to the bathroom. At least I feel like perhaps I’ll be prepared to raise my own!
Being sick with kids is no fun! Luckily mine are old enough for school so when I’m really sick I can power through getting them off to school then come home to sleep in peace for a few hours until the 11:30 preschool pickup time.
I am a mom to four kids age 6 and under plus a wife to a C.M.C.S. (Chronic Man Cold Sufferer). When an illness affects our family everyone suddenly becomes incapable of doing anything for themselves and can only communicate in groans and whines. My face has been snotted on, sneezed on, thrown up on and coughed on. My clothes are used as tissues, my hands are raw from washing them, my washer and dryer run 24/7 (along with every annoying kid’s movie) and I desperately attempt to sanitize every inch of my home. Once everyone is better (the kids first, C.M.C.S. always takes much, much longer to resolve), I end up sick but still doing the laundry and cooking and cleaning only I’m grateful to only have my own snot on my face.
I was really lucky, it was just me who got sick this time. The longest four days of my life! Thank goodness my 19 month old had daycare one of those days so I could lay on the couch and try to get well. Eight beautiful hours of not fighting my son up the stairs for a diaper change; finding a new activity to entertain him without going outside (I don’t even want to see me when I’m sick); and not having to worry that I’m smothering him with my germs. The only thing worse than me being sick is my toddler!
Last winter I got the stomach flu. My son was 1. I was barely able to function, but had to do everything I’d do normally since I’m a single parent and had no one else to help. Usually a local family member would probably have helped me out but they were out of state at the time. It was absolutely awful.
As I type this, I have 3 sick kids laying in my bed. I have my almost 3 year old laying next to me, breathing his hot toddler breath in my face, as well as the occasional cough right into my face. I have my almost 2 year old with boogies flowing like a waterfall, giving me kisses very generously. & I have my 2 month old baby, who just wants to sleep, but can’t do to his noisy siblings. I then have my husband who sleeps through the ruckus, thanks to NyQuil. If it weren’t for DayQuil, I wouldn’t make it through the days while sick. It keeps me going. DayQuil has my back as a mom, it keeps me going, when I want to stop.
The worst is when the kids all get a stomach bug and you wait for the inevitable, your turn. Usually by the time they are all better it hits you.
I was the queen of faking illness as a child (always faked things that couldn’t be proven wrong- stomach ache, migraine, cramps, etc.) I babysat my niece a few months back on a day when she stayed home sick from school. Found out later she had faked it #genetics
On the last full day of our family vacation in Turks and Caicos, my 2 year old daughter had a nasty stomach bug. Needless to say, I woke up the next morning with it. Nothing beats having to fly home, with a stomach bug, a 2 year old and a 1 year old who has a lap ticket. It was a long flight 🙁
My daighter’s first birthday I came down with bronchitis. I had no voice and a fever for three days. I still have to cook food for 60 people, decorate the room where we had the party and power through the party. It was the sickest I have been in a long time!
Two days before my son’s first birthday extravaganza I came down with the worst stomach bug I’ve ever experienced. I’m talking not being able to move without something being expelled from my body. Thanks to Pinterest, I had lofty ambitions for a perfectly crafted camp themed party, complete with headdresses made by hand, hand stamped silverware packets, and only the finest organic and camp themed faire that Pinterest had to offer. Of course, being two days before the party my son doesn’t remember, I only had the supplies for my Insta worthy party and nothing had been hot glued, hung, or assembled. There I sat the night before the party with hand painted gold feathers strewn about, hot glue burnt fingers and a bucket to save me the steps to the bathroom. I didn’t cook a thing, it was a last minute grocery store scramble for food and I powered through the day.
Weve had a multitude of illness around our house since Thanksgiving. It always seems on the days I’m feeling the worst nothing goes right. My daughter won’t eat, watch TV, does all kinds of crazy things and then of course won’t nap. We are VERY excited to see that spring is (fingers crossed) just around the corner. Good luck and speedy recoveries to all my fellow parents out there!
The early mornings with a defiant and indecisive two year old are the worst. Your head is pounding, chest is on fire, snot everywhere, and you have negotiate with the tiny terrorist you created. #nosickdays
On #NOSICKDAYS the worst was still having to wake up in the morning, make breakfast, and take the kids to school. All I wanted to do was stay curled up in bed.
I mainlined DayQuil this past Christmas break when all three of my kids came down with pinkeye in succession. I was not feeling 100%, and my husband was barely scraping by at 50%. But we did it, and we’ll probably talk all about the Christmas Everyone Got the Pinkeye someday.
There’s nothing like a kidney stone to slow you down when your kid is sick. I think I would rather be run over by a car than to have a sick kid or husband!
day 1 of my introduction to the flu thanks to my then 1 y/o , my husband comes home from work early (never happens!) because he has fallen victim to a violent stomach virus. for the next 5 days while ill, I am caring for 2 young children w/ the flu (5 y/o sister also got it), while also cleaning up behind the husband any time he uses household appliances to try to avoid cross contamination. fun times!
When your two-year-old doesn’t know you have the flu and are seven-months pregnant and still insists you make her three different varieties of waffles before she finally settles on eating the first one you made (after throwing a huge tantrum), and it all goes down before 6am…. ahhhhh, toddlers….<3
When I was still breastfeeding my son, I had mastitis with a 102 fever. My husband couldn’t take off that day since he had an important client meeting at work. So I had to power through taking care of my son: nursing, changing diapers, preparing baby food, feeding him, and doing dishes. I felt like that was one of the longest day of my life. #NoSickDays
Sick day? I don’t remember a sick day. ????
I am a mommy and a daycare provider. Many times I have had to power through the day because many people depend on me. Some sick days are easier than others and the ones that aren’t easy I let go of all of my inhibitions and let the kids trash the house, watch as much tv as they want and we do one clean up at the end of the day instead of many to keep things simple. These are the days that I welcome sitting all day and whenever baby needs me I am happy to just cuddle because I have no energy to do anything else like the dishes! LOL
Whenever one of my twins get sick there’s no question as to whether the other one will catch it…it’s inevitable. My oldest usually brings it home from school and of course the two little ones catch it and it’s always worse for them. Last November this situation happens except my husband was already fighting a nasty stomach bug, which I caught and somehow, amidst of all my bathroom visits I of course had to tend to everyone else, luckily it was only 24 hours for my bug and I was back to normal and ready to tackle the cold that the kiddos caught and get everyone to the doctor! Do not want to relive that again…
I had extreme morning sickness with both my pregnancies, but with my second, my son had the stomach flu, and although I can mom through most bodily fluids, that particular day was a chorus of both of us being sick one after the other. So gnarly.
My daughter was only about 3 months old when I got a stomach bug. She had been crying all morning and my stomach cramping just got worse and worse as the morning went on. I finally had to run to the bathroom to relieve myself and I set my daughter down in her bassinet. Even though she’d been crying for pretty much about an hour straight (or to be honest, we had both been crying for about an hour straight), she stopped crying and just laid down quietly during the few minutes I was in the bathroom and when I got out I felt soooo much better! Well I guess we both felt better because she was also in a much better mood! I’m sure she was picking up on how crappy I was feeling too.
We had a monster cold bug earlier this month that took me down for two weeks – thanks to my pre-existing asthma. I resorted to risking my parents’ health by begging them to take care of my daughter so my husband and I could take a break for a few hours from a demanding toddler and watching Frozen on repeat!
Forgot to mention – the only cough solution that worked for both her and I was Vicks Vaporub at night!
You still have to pack lunch 5 minutes before you run out the door on Monday for your preschooler, remember his nap mat, water bottle, school folder, show and tell, and that you have a doctors appointment scheduled for him at 10:30 that you forgot about until your kids teacher reminded you at drop off.
The worst was choking back barf because I was nursing a newborn. I heard it’s bad to throw up on a newborn.
I had really bad stomach virus – up all night vomiting and then had to cart my kid to school (lucky he was going to school) just about the time I was feeling better, my kid got sick and then my husband. Funny- I got to clean up after everyone else AND my own self! Pretty awesome deal . . . .
I had one of the worst colds/flu I had ever gotten complete with terrible sinus pressure and body aches. Since it was a holiday, we decide to take the kids, 4 and 2 years old, to one of those bouncy house and slide places. Since my husband’s back hurt, I ended up being the one to help the kids climb up the structures, for two hours straight. I was feverish and delirious and my husband just watched the entire time. I felt like passing out afterwards.
C-section delivery + whine-y, suddenly overly clingy big sister (she was 2.75yo at the time) who wanted to be held just as much as the new baby is being held. I couldn’t take the prescribed Percocet because they made me woozy, so the pain was freakin’ unbearable. I seriously am amazed how I got through those first few weeks. Big sister is now 4y4m and baby boy is now 20mo!
When my son was 8 months old, I visited my parents out of state. I caught a nasty stomach bug on the flight up and spent 24 hours hurling, but because I was also nursing, I got to do that at the same time. Sometimes literally AT THE SAME TIME. #nosickdays
My twins were 4 months old when they got their first colds. I was also sick and my husband was out of town for business. I was on a big deadline at work, so aside from tending to my sick babies and trying to function while being sick myself, I also had to spend time on conference calls and working on projects. I don’t remember much from those few days except that there was so much snot and exhausted didn’t even describe what I was going through. I’m sure there were some tears in there too, both mine and the babies’. We made it though! 🙂
Over 2015 Christmas, my youngest was dying to see a local church choir sing on a giant wooden tree, the town calls it the living Christmas Tree. The day we planned to go I had an awful migraine. Couldn’t keep medicine down, let alone stomach the idea of leaving my house, but off we went. I sat through the performance with my head in a jacket for the dark and to be away from the beautiful flashing lights of the tree display. Once it was over we loaded up and waited in traffic along with everyone else, at this point convincing myself I could make it home. On the way home we needed to pull over, by the time I got home I was so happy to see my bed. My youngest tells her dad it wasn’t even so great anyways, and she was bored the entire time. #nosickdays
I’m guilty of locking the kids and I in my bedroom while Im in bed and the TV is on to keep everyone safe and contained!
I’m a SAHM now, so all sick days on my part include entertaining my daughter. I’m lucky she enjoys reading and playing by herself in her room.
I’m also lucky that she thinks covering me with all her stuffed animals is a fun game, since that’s definitely one I can manage to play even when I’m sick.
A week after my daughter was born I got terribly sick….I had to nurse the poor thing while I was hunkered down in the bathroom.
I am a single foster parent, so if I get sick, there’s no one else to pick up the slack! But I’ve perfected lying on the couch, putting Curious George on the TV and resting with one eye open… Or lying on the floor next to the toys, hoping that’s close enough to playing with them to keep them happy. 😀
Did anyone else ever receive their gift card for this?