My mom always powered through herself.

Her attitude has never changed. If both of us fell ill at the same time today, she would disregard her own discomfort.

Jay Park - Thanks for reading and commenting! It is definitely a big challenge when both parent and child get sick at the same time.

Cheryl, you have my sympathies as you are sick and you are battling to look after your kids while you feel miserable.

Unfortunately, this is real life. At present you are fortunate enough to be able to just sit at home while your kids watch videos, or whatever, and your toddler is compliant enough to do that.

My toddlers would have gone ballistic if they had been kept in all day just because I was sick. I have been known to take sick kids to the park at times of the day I know would be quiet, to get them out of the house to get some exercise (not very sick, I must add) and I have been there myself coughing and sneezing too, because I know that without a bit of exercise and the opportunity to use their major muscles, they would be whiny and uncooperative later in the day and I would end up with an impossible bedtime routine as a result.

With school age kids, it is impossible to keep them out of school just because Mom feels too sick to go out - even in kindergarten. They miss enough if they are out sick that it is a very hard decision to keep them home unless they are running a temp or throwing up.

It is hard to accept the role of being sick mom, but unfortunately there is no luxury in enjoying being sick once you are a mom.

And to end on a lighter note and to show I have a sense of humor, it sounds to me as if you may have a touch of man flu! If you have never heard of the disease, I suggest you google Man Flu.

Mother of 4- Thanks for commenting.

There are some nasty colds going around this year and the flu seems to be hitting quite hard. So when we are sick we try our best to stay in and not spread it to anyone else. Especially with so many new babies and pregnant women in our playgroups.

And by focusing on resting, recovering, and not passing it along to anyone else, I hope that we can get back to our regular routine much quicker.

I grew up with more extreme weather. Sometimes it just wasn't safe to play outside, so I don't find it too challenging to take care of a toddler when stuck indoors for a short period of time. He can run, jump, dance, etc inside and soon enough be back outside again.

Yes, I feel very lucky that our son understands when I am not at my best and let's me rest and recover. I'm sure being sick when caring for older kids is a totally different experience, but it seems like most of parenthood is like that. Everything changes.

Just to clarify my point about taking "sick" kids to the park, I take the walking sick to the grassy areas and kick a ball, throw a Frisbee type play and stay away from the playgrounds. I point out that their germs could make other kids sick if they play with them or touch play structures, but healthy running with a ball type games won't spread their illness.