3 Reasons why moms can't get sick
On a good day, you know balancing a career and family can be tricky. But, on a day when you're not feeling your best, it's next to impossible. With your family's busy schedule, being sick takes a toll on everyone's day even if you manage to find time to see a doctor. On that occasional sick day, it's evident how much everything requires your normal energy level. You can't always be a multi-tasking superhero, especially on days you're not feeling your best.
Below are 3 reasons why moms can't get sick, and if they do, how it could affect the entire family’s day.
Sick days spent on the children
An estimated 350,000 kids, 15 and younger, stay home from school and daycare on any given day. This makes it almost impossible for a mom to get them to a doctor and make it work. Moms already take off a good amount of time taking care of their sick children at home. This means for all those sick days spent taking care of family, you might be left with little to no days left for your own illnesses.
Work must go on
Your monthly report is due to your boss by noon, but you had to call out with a fever. So, you can ask your colleague to catch up on the work for the report and get it to your boss as soon as possible. Or, you can try to work from home while trying not to sneeze all over your work laptop. Attempting to stay up on emails and meeting your report deadline, you squeeze in calls to make an appointment with your doctor, hoping they can squeeze you in before the kids need to be picked up.
Because practice is a must
After school practice is every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and your kids are required to attend every practice. You can try to call a teammate’s parent to see if they could drive the kids to and from practice. Or, you can have the kids skip practice and encourage them to get their homework done, while you manage the daily question of "What's for dinner."
When mom does get sick, however, here's what you can do...
Ask for help
We know it's sometimes hard to do, but it's okay to ask for help when you're not feeling your best. Call in a favor from your partner, ask another parent to switch carpool days or ask a neighbor for support.
Reschedule your day
Minimizing stress is key to both physical and mental health. Prioritize your schedule and reschedule any meetings, appointments or tasks that are non-critical. Do just the essentials to keep things going in order to give yourself more time for rest.
Order take out
Take a break from food prep and order take-out from your favorite local restaurant. This will also help avoid potentially spreading illness to family members.
Drink more liquids
Hydration through tea, water, chicken soup are important to help your body release viruses or bacteria plus provide needed fluids to fight the bug!
Take a time-out
An illness may be your body's way of telling you to take a time out. Rest and relaxation can help reduce symptoms from most common daily illnesses, so set aside time to draw a hot bath, take a nap, rent a movie, and take time you need to really recover.
We understand that mothers today are juggling more than just kids. They are trying to balance careers and the needs of their families and that often means trying to find enough time in the day to get everything done. This is why we have early morning and extended hours so mothers and their children do not have to spend the whole day trying to get a doctor’s appointment.
We treat much more than just cold’s and flu’s. With our on-site x-ray and lab services, we can also treat sports injuries, household injuries, fractures, cuts, burns, rashes, infections, viruses as well as provide immunizations and school physicals.
Written by Sarah Thebarge, Physician Assistant
