Parenting -- How to Cope When One of You Gets Sick

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Being a parent is wonderful, but it can be challenging when a member of the family gets sick. If your kid spikes a fever or catches a stomach bug, life will be miserable for a few days, and you’ll wish you could take her suffering away. However, getting through the day is even more of a struggle when you or your spouse falls ill as well.

Now that it’s flu season, we all need to be more careful about catching and spreading germs. However, common ailments can’t always be prevented, and if your child attends school or daycare, then she will inevitably bring home the odd sniffle. Here are four top tips to help you get through when sickness strikes. 

Take Sleep Shifts

If your child is unwell, you and your spouse are probably going to be up and down in the night getting her drinks or monitoring her temperature. Rather than both of you being exhausted the next day, take it in turns to sleep while the other one remains “on call.” It might feel selfish to carry on snoozing, but sometimes you need to put yourself first to be able to function as a parent.

Adjust Your Priorities

All hell can break loose when sickness plagues a household. Routines go out the window; dishes pile up in the sink and stacks of dirty laundry go untouched. It can be difficult to cope with a messy house, but when you have kids, a little disorder is inevitable sometimes. Rather than stressing about your untidy home or the fact that you’ve ordered takeout two nights running, try to lower the benchmark and focus on getting through the day as best you can.

Care for Each Other

When our kids are sick, we offer endless sympathy. However, when our spouse is unwell, we can forget to nurture them in the same way. In fact, it’s easy to see them as an inconvenience, especially when you’re forced to take care of everything yourself instead of sharing the load.

Look after your other half when he is sick, and expect the same care in return. Just remember to take steps to remain healthy when you’re caring for someone who’s sick. If one of you has to work from home or skip out of work early to help out at home, then so be it. Nothing is more important than your family’s health and well being.

Seek Financial Help

If someone in the family suffers an injury or a chronic illness, your household income is going to take a hit. Whether you or your spouse is unable to work, or one of you has to stay home and look after a sick dependent, it’s inevitably going to impact your financial health. Rather than waiting until a crisis hits, seek advice on any welfare you could be entitled to, or loans that could tide you over until you’re back on your feet.

If one of you is incapacitated as a result of negligence at work or in a public space, you might want to consider hiring a DeSalvo Law personal injury lawyer to help you claim compensation.

Parenting is never tougher than when someone is sick, but by sticking together and showing compassion, you can make it through the long nights. Just make sure that your child knows to wash their hands and cover their mouths when they cough to avoid spreading their germs around the whole family, as prevention is always better than the cure.

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