Some time during the last week of July, my oldest daughter came down with a cold. It didn't seem like a particularly bad one, though she generally kicks viruses in the butt within a few days.
But then I returned from the BlogHer 2010 conference in New York to find her still coughing. And sneezing. She even had a low grade fever.
Lo and behold, she's still got it a month later. (Don't worry. It's definitely just a virus.) And we've all since come down with it, which wouldn't be such a big deal. Except my husband also has it. And that can only mean one thing.
The man cold.
If there's anything that most moms can agree about, it has to be that men are complete wimps when it comes to illness. Granted, I'm all for getting rest and relaxation, particularly when it's a flu or some sort of severe illness. I'm even happy to afford my spouse that luxury for a simple cold.
But we've got three kids. And another due in five weeks. And he's gone half the time. I should be the one laid up on the couch!
Alas, he spent the first three days sleeping late and just roaming around the house like a blob, which, fine, he's got to go back to work so it's important for him to be the first to recover -- though one (say me) would argue that I've got to run things around here and chase after three kids and keep the baby inside me healthy.
Either way, he was a blob. And a still sneezing blob when he went back on call and decided to go on an international trip to Paris for four days, which turned his cold into a pretty bad ear infection, which has remained oddly untouched by antibiotics for the last week.
And I get it. He can't hear.
But I'm still hacking and schnuffling and wiping everyone's nose, along with running kids to their activities, going through three boxes of tissues in five days, and doing everything else I usually do. Heck, on our recent impromptu "cleanse our body" beach trip this past week, he even got a half day of golf. A birthday gift, nonetheless, but dude, if you can play golf and carry around your own clubs, it's not that bad.
Of course, there is one fantastic benefit to all this, so much so that I'm mostly keeping my mouth shut about all of this.
He's stuck at home until his ear can clear, which means I've got a warm body to be with the kids while I hit the moms' night out dinner and a bunch of other activities I was hoping to attend but wouldn't have been able to since he would otherwise be gone.
Talk about the sunny side of the street. Or maybe it's the "snotty" side.
Photo via Devil Dog Productions
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Comments 14
LOL. My DH gets all whiny and his world just STOPS 'cause he's sick. Drives me batty.
He had a cold once at the same time I was having a m/c, bronchitis, and an eye infection all at once. Guess who went out into the snow to get HIS cold medicine?
Men are such wimps sometimes.
I think the healthcare bill should have contained something about women who have to deal with their sick men automatically get a spa day.
I don't see what the reason for all the husband/man bashing is. I mean, this is exactly the kind of stuff that drives men away. We tend to write articles like this (and there's an increasing trend of them) and wonder why our men withdraw. Give the guy some respect, the reason he's gone half the time is because he's working....for you and the kids and the roof over your heads.
I know motherhood is no picnic, I've got 3 too and yes I wish I could be laid up on the couch too, but if your guy is sick let him get a sick day for the once or twice a year that he's actually sick. Think about that while your run off to the club for your GNO.
My hub can get the sniffles and he's dying. My 5 yr old boy however don't know how be sick when he has the flu. And of course "mommy" even with this nasty cold I have now is not allowed to be sick. THE WHOLE PLACE WOULD COME TO A SCREACHING HALT IF I DID.
This actually caused a huge argument in our marriage. I gave my husband shit about being a panzy when he is sick and he got very angry with me. He is still angry to this day. The reason why it bothers me is men boast about how tough they are and they can handle anything (including child birth ha ha) but yet when they get sick they act like they are dying. Same thing with when they physically get hurt.
Good Grief! If men did anything while they were sick us women might have a moment off. My husband wants me to "shoot me now" whenever he gets the sniffles. yet here I was with the flu that had back pain so bad that I could not do my job, or even sit up (it was worse than labor pains) I still had to make all the food, ferry the kids to activities, and at least attempt to sit at the computer to do some of my work to bring in the money while he sat around and relaxed! His excuse: "well I am looking for a job, you have one so do it" Yet being the only money bringer and the house cleaner, cook, maid, bottle washer and being sick is just not fair!