I'm one of those annoying people that when I get sick, I get sick, fall over into bed and usually emerge 24 hours later feeling better. (The exceptions to this are my bouts with flu every 2-3 years) So I'm not sick a lot or sick for a long time. When I am, I am useless, do not talk, do not touch, do not expect food or anything else from me. Sadly, it's when I get sick like this that my daughter decides that only I can fulfill her needs and no matter what her dad does to keep her away from me so I can sleep it off, she's in my face every five minutes: "Mommy, are you sleeping? Do you need to puke? I'd like some lunch. Can you get me some juice? Can I snuggle here (kick kick kick, steal blankets) and watch TV with you? I want to be with you." Sometimes it's so bad, I contemplate calling a taxi and being sick in the hotel across town, just so I won't be interrupted.

I am so sorry that you feel bad...If I was there I would take care of you and give you orange juice and all that good stuff!!!! My DH came down with a bad cold this week and he is the kind that goes to bed and doesn't like anyone to bother him....now THAT drives crazy!!!!! So I just go and check on him every once in a while to see if he needs anything.. Now I have caught the cold and he is babying me...driving me nuts...I took some decongestant that caused me to be WIDE awake and so I got up in the middle of the night to read and he has been fussing over me telling me to stay in bed...get rest...watch tv..just rest!!! but weird as it may sound I don't want to !!!!! Any way that's where I am this day and again I hope you are feeling better really soon!!! Mothers are amazing people they can make it through all kinds of things!!

So sorry you're not feeling well. I feel your pain though. Yep, it's like you were writing the story of my life. Curtis doesn't get sick often but when he does he definitely expects to be waited on hand and foot (how that's different from any other time, I can't explain). This weekend RJ wasn't feeling well but he certainly doesn't let that drag him down...oh, unless he needs something like food, juice etc. In fact, I gave him some meds that made him nauseous, I go into the kitchen and I hear, Velvvvvv, I'm puuuuking! At least he made it to the bathroom though. Yesterday he's sitting in front of the computer and I catch him itching his nostrils with his finger (seriously, how many times do you have to tell a child to grab a tissue from the box that's sitting less than 3 inches from their hand??), then five minutes later he's sucking on his fingers. "Dude," I say. "Dude, you realize a few minutes ago you were wiping your nose with that finger, right? And now that finger's in your mouth." "EWWWWW," he says, but doesn't move an inch to wash his hands or grab a tissue. Kids!

Sure hope you're feeling better soon!

Hope you are feeling better soon and yes, it seems to be the consensus that all men are the same kind of patient as your dh!

I have to admit...I am lucky! DH is a doctor..so at the first sign of illness we get medicine...lots of it...the kids are even easier...when they are sick I put them in their rooms...they take naps...they aren't demanding at all. When I am sick..all I have to do is tell hubby and in our medicine cabinet there must be a cure for almost anything...he just tells me what to take. The hard part comes when I want a little TLC...Bobby's usual response is...ok honey you have a pulse and you are breathing..that is better than blah blah blah...as he goes and tells me about all the people that died the night before in ER...But if you helped Paizlee avoid getting sick that is amazing....almost always when one of my kids get sick..they all get it!

Estee, sounds like my week last week! But add in that I was in charge of Addy's Valentine's day party at preschool and making Trent's valentine's for his class and sending ones out to all our family and friends. AND Russ was in KY on business so it was just sick me doing everything and feeling like I was dying while doing it all. But it all got done...and Russ did take care of me when he came home Friday so at least I had that. I'll send good thoughts that Paizlee doesn't get sick too!

Oh, I would SOOO love to have a company like that! I would rather be sick myself than have my kids be sick, but then the thing about that is...WHO will take care of ME? It is HARD to run after Mikey when I'm not feeling 100%....I need to be at least at 150% to do that! LOL Both Mikey and Lij aren't BAD sick people. Mikey is just like Maddux. You'd never know he was sick by his running around and jumping off of things just like any other day. And Miguel...I think he'd go to work if he had a gunshot wound! LOL That boy will NOT stop...he's like the Energizer bunny!! SO, I guess that I'm lucky that I don't have any men who get whiny and needy when they're sick!

Poor Estee! I hope you feel better really soon. I have the same problem and feel your pain. Alexis is like Maddux. She never says she's sick. She can be throwing up and running 103 fever and still be running around wreaking havoc. Ugh! Then Jordan, everytime she gets sick she ends up with pneumonia and in the hospital. I am AMAZED that you have kept Paizlee from getting sick. You rock woman! I think men are all such wimps! If they had to have babies the world would end because one man would have one, and tell all of the other men how terrible it was and then none of them would get pregnant ever again. LOL Sending you some virtual chicken soup! Hugs, Heather

Lots of get better hugs headed your way ! POOR YOU! I'm so sorry you have to drag your sick butt around playing nursemaid. Hope all is back to happy/healthy and normal SOON!

I will have to add this to my list of GOOD THINGS ABOUT BEING SINGLE: able to be sick in bed without worry of little ones or hubby. Never thought about it til recently. :)
I hope all of you feel better soon!!
That company idea sounds like a great one!!

OMG! Your husband sounds EXACTLY like mine! I can handle the kids being sick, but his whinning and "Do I feel warm?" questions with that pathetic (faked) look on his face makes me want to puke! I do love him, really.....but when I'm trying to take care of a sick kid (or 2 sick kids) and run my normal daily routine, I think he should be an adult and take care of himself. Besides, when was the last time he stayed home to take care of me when I'm sick???

You poor thing! It does get easier when they get older - (Imagine me holding my two fingers about 1 inch apart while I say) about this much. There's no getting rid of the Drama tho!

Because of my transplant we have very strict rules about sick people! If Mom runs a temp, they throw my behind in the hospital and that screws everyone up.

1. Sicky is confined to one piece of furniture in the den.
2. Sicky is strictly FORBIDDEN to enter the kitchen.
3. Sicky can use one bathroom and one bathroom only.
4. This allows movement between the den, bathroom and bedroom so a Lysol path has been established! Once the Sicky rises from the Den - the Lysol is whipped out.
5. The Sicky can have the remote and one phone.
6. No one else may touch the remote and one phone (hence the Sicky has all the power)
7. Lysol wipes are in the bathroom and kitchen for frequent use. All cups are removed from the Sicky and placed IN the dishwasher and the hands are washed and dishwasher handle/faucet handle are lysol wiped. The same applies to any plates.
8. Used tissued are to be placed in the predesignated grocery plastic bag BY the Sicky. These are disposed of with disposable gloved hands.
9. After bathroom use, door handles, faucet handles, toilet, flusher, light switch are hosed down liberally with Lysol. The Sicky gets their own germy hand towel.

I can recite these rules easily because we have the flu at our house right now. Three of us (the females) got flu shots and hubby didn't. Katie had a confirmed case of the flu 1 1/2 weeks ago. Thursday, Hubby came home with it. Hubby had to make a decision as to were he was sleeping - bless his heart - he chose the couch.

As I write this, Ellie, who had a dance recital tonite, tells me she isn't feeling well.

We haven't had any requests for ice burgs - but right now I would really like some Lay's Pickle Chips and I think our grocery store has stopped carrying them. Drat!

Man Estee I swear !! I feel like you're peering into my life via the computer?LOL. THIS HIT HOME!!! I've been sick all week with a terrible head cold. My daughter Elizabeth had it first, Hannah ran around here with an annoying cough but enough energy for the energizer bunny. Hubby came home Tuesday I think and as he came through the door, his family is right there to welcome him in... we get... Stand back, I'm sick, don't come near me! My first take was, are we the germaphobes? or the germs who made you sick? Anyway... This led right into him sprawled out on the couch in the livingroom, socks and shirt deposited on the floor, three blankets covering him. Everytime someone walked into the room they got the third degree, Where's your mother? What do we have to drink? Are there any popsicles? Can you get me a warm facecloth? Can you get me the tissues? Can you get me a pillow off of my bed?
Needless to say, thats when I hauled off on my Hubby. I love Him BUT! I walked into the livingroom and this is what it was like.
Me; What's the problem?
Bill; I don't feel good.
Me; I KNOW THAT, what's with whining?
Bill; I wasn't whining, I DONT FEEL GOOD!!
Me; So you park yourself in the middle of the livingroom, and proceed to want this and that and have everyone running around, trying to make you comfortable and your clearly not so we listen to your ranting and whining and still It's can you get me this or can you get me that. ENOUGH! GO TO BED!
Bill; I can't
Me; Why?
Bill I DONT FEEL GOOD!!
Me; get to bed and get comfortable, I'll be up in a little while. THEN IT HIT ME BEFORE HE COULD SAY ANYTHING.
Me; You big Baby!! You don't want to climb the stairs! Get your a$$ off the couch and get to bed. I'll make you some chicken soup and bring it up.
Now for the first time he starts to roll over, quite annoyed, springs in the couch are making awful sounds, blankets fall to the floor, he sits up and looks at me like he's being exciled to Sybria. He lifts himself up with grunts and groans, lumbers out of the livingroom to the foot of the stairs and stops. He stares at the top of the staircase like it's a feat he'll never acomplish. Then he starts lifting one foot, holding the bannister for dear life. Pauses, then lifts his other foot, pauses and repeats.It must of taken him literally 2/3 minutes to get upstairs.
OMG the drama!! He would surpass anyone of our teenage girls caught in a catfight over a blowdryer!!!
Well finally he got up there and into our king sized bed. I proceeded to heat up some homemade chicken soup, and toasted up some store bought italian loaf, lightly buttered and proceeded up the same stairway, bed tray, soup, bread and of course his DIET COKE! brought it into the bedroom only to find him fast asleep.
POOR THING!! He works soo hard and soo many hours, no wonder he feels lousy. But I won't tolerate his rantings when he's sick because he's like a little kid. Once he starts he doesn't know when to stop. There's no way you can convince him either that he is like that when he is sick. He denies the whole thing.
The next morning, I awake to an empty bed. Hubby has gotten up and gone to work at 5:00 a.m.
At 9:00a.m. I recieve a phonecall from Hubby and he's chipper than a robin on a bright spring mornin. Hi Hun! Did Hannah get off to school OK? Can you run to the.......I need you to pick up.......and could you call...........
AWGH!!!!!!
Well when I woke up to an empty bed, my right eye was glued shut, my throat was itchy, my ears were popping, the right side of my head felt like a cement block. My nose felt as though it was an open fawcet. I could feel every hair folicle on my body, I had the body aches to go with it. Oh yes. I got the full shimeel.
I responded to him; Ah.. no.. I can't...
He's says impatiently Well why not?
I said, "cause I'm sick"
Bill said, "oh come on now it can't be that bad"
Oh ya know, how your Mom probably told you life is not fair? Well when things like this happen I just shut down and tend to myself. Dinner was something quick and simple. Laundry didn't get done, running the dishwasher was a hassel in itself. The livingroom probably still has Billy's socks and shirt deposited on the floor. The fact is I'm the one to do. I didn't feel like doing so nothing has been done all week! Sounds awfull but sometimes thats the way things go. If the rest of my family doesn't want to live in squallor while I'm sick then they are just going to have to pick up when I can't or live like this till I'm better.
Well come Thursday, I felt a little better and got some things done. Not much but made it livable. Had a great Valentine's Day.
Friday, Saturday were ok. UNTIL.....
Saturday Night my cold exploded, the body aches, the runny nose, the head ache, the constant cough, the sore rib cage from coughing soo much, then came the chills, I went to bed around 8. and stayed there. Sunday I got up about 9:30 only to make myself a tea and then returned to my lair on the second floor. I slept till 1:30. Came down stairs, head spinning, right side of my face severly chapped from the constant running eyes and nose. My sinuses on my right side felt like a toothache. Felt as if someone bored a tunnel staight through my face to my ear. Vertigo set in, I was soo dizzy. I told Hubby then and there. You're making supper, I'm going back to bed. And I did. Today my head is still stuffy, eyes and nose still runneth over but all in all I'm feeling much better. We are the caretakers I'm afraid. It is instilled in us when we are young. Only we have to learn to take care of ourselves in order to take care of everyone else. Well Estee enough of my Blah Blah week. I hope you are feeling much better. Take CARE !!!

I feel your pain GIRL!!!! You and I were in the same boat this week except that dear darling hubby of mine was sick last weekend and was fine this week while I was sick, but did he help out with the dishes, laundry, bathing the child, feeding the dog, feeding the people? NOOOOOOOOOO! See it doesn't really matter if I'm sick or not, I still have to do everything. So in reality I need a permanent substitute mom!

As a mother of 3 children whom all attend school, I honestly believe that they should have to pass through some kind of "thing" that lysols them from head to toe when they enter the school and when they leave the school. That would solve most of the sickness issues! Oh, and Bath & Body works should provide all moms with complimentary anti-bacterial deep cleansing hand gel, preferrably in sweet-pea scent, on a weekly basis!

Sign me up for your new company!
And for the free anti-bacterial hand gel too! Why don't schools have loads of that stuff around? I really think it would cut down on all these colds already. Ugh.
Sorry you weren't feeling well. We had it all here too except for my son. I didn't get it bad just groggy. That I can live with. My hubby is great when he's sick, so that helps me out. But on the other hand, if he does get a little whiney, I just don't put up with it. He doesn't take care of me, I don't take care of him and he knows it. We fend for ourselves! ROFL

LOL...I can relate!

I would always rather me be sick than any of the kids! Luckily my hubby rarely gets sick he's not a complainer! I AM lucky!

But when the kids are down....I have double duty! My youngest has his grandma's hypochondria! So every little thing HAS to be analyzed!

He was in the bathroom and read about a young boy who had leg pain (one of his favorite pains to complain about) it turned out to be a serious illness. So, of course he asks me if it's possible that he is dying! After a long pause and deep sigh, I tell him he will be fine~! Of course then I think of the worst...what IF! I realize this boy is going to drive me crazy!

Me, I just have to suck it up! LOL

Oh yeah...I do hope you are feeling better! :D

Oh Estee, I do hope you're feeling better! My dh is kind of strange when it comes to being sick, I think. If it's something mild and minor, say a cold, headache, flu, well then, he feels worse than he's ever felt in his entire life! Not that he whines alot or anything like that, but if you ask how he's feeling, the drama queen in him emerges. "Oh, it feels like someone is hitting me in the head with a sledge hammer"! Now, 11 years ago, when he had acute pancreatitis and gall stones, he never complained or said one word, and according to the doctor, he could have been dead in a week...I knew he was sick when he came crawling out of the bathroom literally in tears! The man ended up spending a week in the hospital and had his gall bladder removed! I myself suffer from a chronic condition, which can leave me in severe pain and unable to sleep at times. When my condition flares up and I'm just not "on top of my game" around the house, dh always says "whatsa matter, ya sick again?", and that's about all the sympathy I get...he does offer me this tiny bit of "help"..."how about ya sit down a while and get back to scrubbin the oven later? It won't go anywhere." Gee, thanks, honey! MEN!!!

Seriously... I have felt like this my entire life. I don't have kids... unless you count my 26-year-old husband, who up until a month ago, couldn't even pour his own cereal! He only gets sick once a year, but even then he's so sick he can barely speak so I don't have a problem with him. And finally... three weeks ago... I got VERY ill. Two ER visits, convulsions, about ten fainting bouts, fever, don't turn the lights on unless you want to be beaten, couldn't even sit on my own and had to pee in a bed-pan-kind-of-sick. Yeah, sick. My husband finally had to say, "Holy Crap! She's really sick this time! She has to stay in bed for two weeks. And not only do I have to pour my own cereal and make my own toast, but I have to *make* and *bring* her food and Gatorade!" So the sickness has ended, and I have quite the independent husband. ;) And even though my entire life, I was thinking, "Why can't somebody take care of *me* when I'm sick?!" when I finally DID get sick enough that somebody had to take care of me... I wanted to scream. Granted, I was too weak to scream... or sit... or open my eyes... but it was so frustrating not to be able to ANYTHING because I always do EVERYTHING, that I hated every moment of it, and thank GOD I'm just about back to normal! :D Good luck! :D

I was just thinking about this today, as my own DH is sick. I'm trying to be nice, but really I feel like saying, "Listen, if I could produce three human beings from this body, I'm sure you can handle a sore throat!" ha ha

I hope you feel better soon, Estee!

Oh hunny, You are singing to the choir. The sickies just wont let go.....BTW, I just love your style of writting. You have a gift.

OMG, you are SOOOOO funny! I can totally relate about hubby's being bigger babies than the babies themselves when they get sick! And yes, please sign me up for services in your company; even if it is just imaginary!

You are such a trooper! My DH rarely gets sick but does tend to save his dramatic flair for those rare occasions. I, on the other hand, whine & complain when I'm sick about how I shouldn't have to do anything yet I keep doing it all anyway. I've often wanted to just drive to my parents house & be sick & beg my own mom to take care of me again :) Hope you're feeling better, the flu & strep are everywhere around here right now during our never ending Illinois winter, ugh!

Okay. It took me a few years (maybe decades) to get the picture, (and sometimes the picture still goes fuzzy), but I can't tell you how much I appreciate all Jill has done for the children and me, when we’ve been sick. I'm serious when I say it took me a long time to figure out who was the weaker sex. But I'm now ready to confess...it's us guys!!! My heart goes out to all you women who are married to somewhat inconsiderate guys like me. We all aren’t totally inconsiderate, but mainly unaware. It’s a trait we got form our fathers…..or our sixth grade teacher, or President Bush (if you read the New York Times), or Bill Clinton (if you read Drudge) or somebody.

Estee, I’ve got another idea for a business. It’s called the Institute for Husband Awareness. Every woman in America would buy stock, I believe. Jill will be the first investor. That will make us all fabulously wealthy, and we can then all afford hire your rent-a-moms.

Charlie,
Husband of Jill, the Founder of Scrapbook.com

Oh man, did you hit the nail on the head! Have you been to my house this week? My daughter and husband have both been "down and out" this week (ear infection and cold, cold/flu, respectively). Of course that meant I had 2 *kids* to take care of! In addition to the cleaning/cooking/laundry/etc. Oh yeah, I'm sick too. But who has time for that? My hubby doesn't get sick often, but when he does he literally spends at least 2 days in bed. I'm lucky to sit down for 5 minutes!
If you want to get your *company* started, count me in!

I am like a big baby when I get sick...Not meaning to of course but it happens. I hardly get sick, but when I do...I am sick and I live on my own and I have no one to help me. If I throw up I am on my own because my mama won't even come to my aid.... Count me in on your new company....I can run errands. Also include me in the BBW Antibac handgel. I used to work for Bath and Body Works...My scent was Plumeria then, but now it is Warm Vanilla sugar and Vanilla Bean Noel at Christmas

I have also had a kidney stone and Had to have surgery to get it removed. It was the size of the tip of my pinky. The pain hit me and had me on the floor crying and I was like God just take the pain away. They had to hook me up to an iv administer fluids and that was the sickest I have ever been.... I went into the ER with this at 8pm on Sunday night and didn't get home until 2am on monday. I was given til thursday to try and pass the stone, but I couldn't so I had to get operated on. But before all of this... I had a UTI which can sometimes be a part of the kidney stone illness. It had gone three times misdiagnosed. I had this during the summer and my cousin michael's wedding. But looking back on it now I am lucky because it could have been a lot worse. I had a friend who was sick for a year and a half with a failing kidney who wound up having a kidney transplant. Praise God he is doing much better now.