Oh No! Mom Is Sick.

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Well, it happened- Mom caught a virus and it was a real “oh my gosh-kill me now” type thing. Where it came from still baffles me. What I thought was just me catching up on catching that flu my kids had a couple of weeks ago quickly turned into something much worse. I kept asking myself “Why me, what did I do to become so unhealthy?” as I lay on the couch day after day trying to sleep away this illness. As we skipped a week of lessons, well-rounded home cooked meals, and all of my work and college courses all I could think was “Oh No, Mom Is Sick!”

Let’s face it- all hell doesn’t break loose until mom gets sick!

Time seems to stop completely and things begin to pile up around the house. Nothing makes me feel worse than I do when sick than watching my house become what looks like the remnants of a war zone as my normal chores seem to stack up. Thankfully, my husband was home this week and I was so blessed to have him around to take care of the things that I could not. He definitely saved our home from pure disaster this time around. But on days that he is not home and Mom is trying to win her own flu battle, I am pretty sure a tornado or two passes through the house. Having to restore the house after that evil flu is the absolute worst, however not all hope is lost.

There are ways to keep things a little more in order and save your after-flu sanity.

I have found that by keeping a clutter bucket in my living room, my kids are more likely to just throw their toys, socks, and even (believe it or not) water bottles or other pieces of trash into it. This doesn’t mean that my kids do not have to clean up; they are required multiple times a day to clear out the tub and put things away. However, I like this because it keeps me from stumbling across toys while I rush to the bathroom- miserable. And let’s face it, kids can be lazy little monsters if mom doesn’t stay on top of them. But when mom is sick, the last thing I want to do is move, let alone be on top of every little thing. So the bucket helps- I don’t have to look at tornado remains throughout my house.

Another thing that drives me crazy is the trash. I cannot possibly be the only parent whose children just keep piling, and piling, and piling trash even though it doesn’t fit and it is clearly falling all over the ground? So I implement the mini trash can rule. I use a mini trash can that is lined with plastic bags and every time I get up I check the trash. When it is full, I tie it and the kids take it out. Even my 6 year-old joins in the rotation and takes it out. By the end of the night, I don’t have to fight away Kevin Bacon, our mini pig, from tearing through the floor trash. And when my husband isn’t home, I don’t have to take out the trash while being fatigued.

Let’s face it, one of the most challenging things to handle while sick is dinner. 

Sure I could order in, but that isn’t healthy and begins to add up. Usually, I will prepare and make a freezer meal lasagna or teriyaki chicken so that the burden on my husband is lessened. What is easier than a ready-made-meal that is still fresh and homemade? Plus this really saves on the whole pile of pots and pans I am left staring at after dinner. But this only works if I am not the first to get sick, because then I have time to anticipate it and prepare.

Lastly are those evil dishes! With a family of 6, they pile up rather quickly and the good Lord knows that I am not doing them while sick. However, watching that pile grow each time I enter the kitchen makes my heart cringe a little more each time. So I allow the dishwasher to actually be used. My kids will usually keep up on their own dishes throughout the day a bit (at least the older ones do) but it never fails that somehow by the end of the night the sink and counter are screaming- Help Me! So I give in and only use that dishwasher if I absolutely have to. This way, it also doesn’t end up costing much more since we run it maybe 4 times a year. It is my guilty when-I’m-sick pleasure savior.

Ok, so maybe these things won’t make you actually feel better.

But it does ensure that by the time I am feeling better and back to finding my routine to save the house, there isn’t as much stress and chaos for me to deal with. Technically during this time I am still fighting fatigue and trying to bounce myself back in energy. But thanks to these few little alterations, I don’t completely dread my after-flu house restore project.

As for me this time, well let’s just say that after three days of what felt like death in my throat as well as not being able to eat and having little water (it hurt too much to swallow), I knew that it was time to see a doctor. I had never felt a pain like this and my favorite, tried-and-true holistic health remedies were only providing a certain amount of relief; nothing that took away the tears. I cannot tell you how thankful I am for walk-in clinics when my doctor cannot get me in soon enough.

I ended up with Strep throat. *gasp* So this is what it feels like- death!

Thankfully, there are antibiotics for that and boy do they work quick. This is a wonderful time for me to state the importance of those who follow a holistic lifestyle to never completely oppose the medical side of healthcare. Holistic medicine has many benefits and of course I always take that route first. However there is a time and place for everything and even with some education in Holistic Medicine, sometimes traditional medicine is the better route to go. That should never be ignored, especially when caring for others!

It has been 2 days since I found out about this evil virus and I have never been happier to be able to eat or drink water in my life. At the end of the day, all I know is that I look forward to getting back into my routine and hopefully never experiencing this again. But for now, my children are no longer saying “Oh No, Mom is sick!”.