GETTING THE ‘NO SYMPATHY’ VOTE

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First I got that annoying you’re-so-going-to-get-ill tickle at the back of my throat, then the feverish chills, then the thumping headaches…and then acute sinusitis. I’ve had three weeks of non-stop nose-blowing, coughing and generally feeling run-down and rotten.

But, of course, I’m not complaining, because when you have kids you can’t. You have to get on with it no matter how awful you feel. After all, nobody else is going to do the school drop-offs and pick-ups, deal with the overspilling ironing basket, conjure up three relatively healthy meals a day or make sure my boys aren’t bashing each other on the head with dinosaurs.

Not being able to escape into bed during the day, when you’re feeling like utter crap, is total torture. And there is zero sympathy from my husband (‘Just have another Neurofen’), while my children simply don’t get it (‘Why are you lying down, lazy Mummy!’).

My uncaring brood even find it amusing when I’m ill, like it’s some silly game that I’m playing. Even a coughing fit in front of my eldest didn’t convince him – he just giggled in my bright-red face. And my youngest thought that me resting under a duvet on the sofa (feeling shivery) was his cue to jump on me (‘Ha, ha!’) like a human trampoline – not funny.

Another example is the time I had a back spasm. Whilst bending over to put on the boys’ shoes at the front door, I suddenly couldn’t breathe or talk; the pain was so intense. When I was able to, I crawled in agony to the living room so that I could reach the phone and call my mother. During the hour it took for her to get to me, I had my then-one-year-old in tears, pawing at me as I lay motionless on my back, and my other son – who had sneakily climbed up to the treat cupboard and stolen a super-sized bag of Maltesers – chomping on chocolate, laughing at me and running riot. I was totally helpless.

So, as I’ve learnt the hard way, being poorly with children is pretty hideous – and it’s akin to having to cope with them while suffering from a hideous Sunday hangover. And, unless you are fortunate enough to have hands-on help (I am so green with envy), you have to just soldier on.

There are, however, ways to make the road to recovery a bit less painful. During my recent bout of illness, I relied (a lot) on Disney DVDs, ready-made meals and litres of soothing tea to get me through.

Plus, I managed to bag myself a weekend lie-in, thanks to my other half who finally saw that I might possibly be slightly under the weather.

So, hey, I’m not complaining…

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Tweet the author: @Fiona_Pennell
Tweet the editor: @Molly_Gunn

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Fiona Pennell lives in the Cotswolds with her husband and their two boys, Jack, 6, and Otto, 4. A former YOU magazine sub-editor, Fiona now spends her days being trampled on, going on slug hunts and dreaming of lie-ins. (Twitter: @fiona_pennell)

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