sneezeThere's nothing quite as miserable as fighting a cold or flu bug during the winter, is there? That is unless you add in a house full of kids who are stuck inside and want Mom, Mom, Mommy to actually hang out with them! You start to ask yourself which one is harder to deal with: the miserable virus in your head or your dear, darling children.

Surviving a bad cold when you are trying to take care of your kids is hard, but as I sit here in recovery mode from one of the worst bugs I've battled in a good long while, I promise you, it's not impossible:

1. Don't Try to Be Uber Mom: It's perfectly acceptable to tell your kids, "Mommy doesn't feel well right now, I can't play [insert loud annoying toy name here]." You may feel guilty putting yourself first, but look at it this way: the faster you recover, the faster you can be out there doing a dance party in the living room with them.

2. Employ Your Little Helpers: Kids love feeling needed. And there's nothing more fun than being needed by the one person who usually does it all herself. Ask them to bring you cups of water to help flush your system or to bring you a new garbage bag for all of those tissues. Bonus to this -- if they're doing something for you, they are not making a new mess that you need to clean up later.

3. Ask Them to Read to You: When the cold leaves you totally drained, the last thing you need is a toy fire engine screaming across the living room. But kids need to have fun too. Instead of "shushing" them, engage them in an activity that allows them to make noise of a less painful volume. Little readers can get good practice at reading aloud, and they'll be so proud to help you.

4. Institute Quiet Time: Need a nap but they're "too old" for it? The words quiet time don't have the same negative connotation for kids, and you just might find they'll take a snooze in their room anyway when given the chance. 

Have you had to suffer through a cold with the kids in the house recently? How'd you make it work?


Image via DaGoaty/Flickr