These little-known shortcuts are your ticket to a restorative day in bed—even if you don't have a babysitter. If you're like most parents, you can't neglect your parenting duties when you're sick.
Instead, you probably power through only to wind up worse off. So, the key to parenting while sick is to let go of your standards and guilt.
Here's how to survive parenting when you're sick—and get better sooner. When you're sick, it's ideal for your kids to spend at least some of the day playing quietly by themselves so you can rest. How to accomplish this feat? Here are some ideas for keeping the kids occupied while you stay horizontal. Now a magic duffel bag full of little treasures from mom swaps and Target lives in her closet, ready for her 4-year-old.
Failed to plan ahead? Raid your birthday stash to gift yourself a break. If your child is younger than 2, you can probably even get away with "shopping" your kitchen for unexpected things for your child to play with. Of course, your kids will need more attention eventually. Think old standbys like playing doctor-patient or hospital. She loved it. When that activity has run its course, make a game of telling your kids what to do.
Similarly, when her boys were younger, Melissa Raman Molitor, of Evanston, Illinois, created impromptu scavenger hunts for them. And YOU get to watch cartoons! My favorite trick is rewarding my kids with TV for playing nicely together. I tell them that if they can make it without fighting or whining until a timer goes off 20 to 30 minutes , they can watch a show! But if they do either, the timer resets.
