The Village: The Sick Mom

By: Mia L. Hazlett
10/2/2017

Before I talked about The Sick Kid, but the real question is, what happens when Mom gets sick? As the only adult in my household with two school-aged kids and speaking with other single parents, daytime drugs. Daytime drugs is what happens.

When I call out sick, I wake up at the same time as I would as if I was going to work. I touch on my sick work routine on my blog Bossing the Boss, The Sick Day . When I know my boss is set, I still have two children to wake up and get off to school.  I may gain 20-30 minutes because I don’t have to get up and ready for work.  I can just throw something on and drop them off at school or stay in my PJs.

I’ve been told my kids are old enough to set their own alarm and get up themselves. In theory that is absolutely correct. When it comes to practice, I run into the danger of adding an extra step to my sick morning routine by writing them each a late note. Can’t they just take the bus? Yup, they can. That forces me to get up about a half hour earlier. I’m not doing it.

You see, the single parent doesn’t just exist in their household, they run the damn place. Kids are work and quite honestly, they don’t care if you’re sick. They still have to go to school. When they get home, there is homework and dinner to be had. Self-care is second when you are the only adult in your home.

I know not one single parent who has just slept in bed until they felt better. If you are one, could you please comment and share your secret. My point is, the household never shuts down just because Mom is sick. We suck it up, medicate with the daytime stuff, because we still have to function on some level, and then we meander our way through the day.

Even with a Village, I choose not to have people around me when I’m sick. Infecting your Village just isn’t cool. So there are some things when you have a Village that you must do alone, being sick is one of them.