Its hard to think of how to cope when your kids have those dreaded new term bugs, especially if you aren't feeling great or if they all get poorly at once. But it always happens after the start of a school year and this has been no different a year so I thought this was worth another share
Last year despite our Half Term plans for fun and frolics, we've actually had a hellish week of sickness and bugs, its been a trying time especially as I was first to fall ill meaning 3 children aged 6 and under needed entertaining with as little effort as possible whilst I tried to combat tonsilitis and an awful virus. Then came Termite and The Golden Child's turn and knowing how I had felt I was quite prepared with ways to help them keep up thier strength and get better as quickly as possible.
So I wanted to share some tips that have helped us through our week of doom, and I will give big thanks to the mummy massive who supported me with ideas on occupying the kids via Facebook
Entertainment
When Mummy isn't well then things can get boring and soon you have fractious children making much noise and many complaints. So here are some ideas for entertainment.
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Hotter Colder - Hide something and then tell the kids they are wamer or colder depending on how close they are
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Pairs and 52 Card Pick Up - Pairs is very simple, use some specific childrens game cards or just a normal deck of playing cards, lay them all flat on the floor and turn them over two at a time to see if you find a pair, when you match a pair keep those cards, the person with the most cards wins. 52 card pick up is when you flick all the cards on the floor and get the kids to pick them up! The child with the most wins!
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Simple Arts and Crafts - Papers, crayons, stickers, pritt stick string lolly sticks and sellotape seem to be able to occupy my big two for a good 90 minutes! Throw in the Argos catalogue and some kiddy scissors you have yourself an absolute collage-fest
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What Has Gone - Gather together some small items, a tray, a cloth, and a small bag talk about each item as you place them on the tray and then cover with a towel or cloth. Ask the children to look away and count to ten.while you take off the cloth and take one item away and hide it in the bag then see if the kids can say which is missing.
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Movies and TV - No I'm Not an advocate of the 'electronic babysitter' but a bit of TV or a movie is an hour or two of down time for you and them and it's a world away from parking them in front of a screen for every waking hour!
Health
Disclaimer I am NOT medically trained and you should ALWAYS seek medical advice
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We have used paracetamol and Ibuprofen at the advice of the Doctor to help with the pain of a sore throat and the misery that comes with a temperature
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Opening windows is helpful when you have bugs being passed around, its much better to have fresh air coming into the house even if its cooler so that you can help combat others catching the germs
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Staying comfortable in loose natural fibre clothing will ensure you stay cool when tempaeratures spike and you can pile under a blanket if the shivers hit
Food and Drink
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Drink Lots of fluids - We rarely have juice here but I will happily let them sip on watered down fruit juice all day if they aren't taking anything else in, plus the vitamin c in fresh orange will help fight the bugs.
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Frozen berries are super handy to keep in the house they defrost quickly and are very soft so mixed into a yoghurt can be quite filling and healthy to eat when they won't eat anything else
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Ice lollies are soothing and another way to get liquid into them, make your own by freezing fruit smoothies or juice and check out this tip for catching drips...
It's just a cake case slid over the lolly stick but it really works
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Soup is another brilliant option and you can make your own in about 30 minutes cramming loads of veg in, blend it for a smooth even easy to swallow consistency
Last but not least, snuggles with Mum or Dad (or whoever your little persons grown up happens to be) are always a great source of comfort, so try to ignore the mounting laundry and the teetering pile of dishes a hug will be more beneficial than a show home x
How do you deal with sickness and being stuck indoors?
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