I hate cold and flu season. I especially hate cold and Man Flu season. Whenever my husband and I both catch whichever illness our 3 year old has brought home from preschool, I feel the enormous dread of not only being sick but of also having to deal with my husband being sick. One morning, after my dear husband was particularly dramatic, I decided to keep a log of our day. This is a true account of me on the first day of a cold versus my husband on the first day of the Man Flu.
Mom on the first day of a cold (7:00 am – 4:00 pm):
- Wakes up with kids at 7:00 am
- Head is pounding, sinuses are aching, throat is scratchy
- Groans at self for catching toddler’s cold
- Takes cold medicine and chugs water
- Makes breakfast and feeds kids
- Puts baby down for a nap at 8:30 am
- Folds 2 loads of laundry
- Puts puzzles together with toddler
- Plays play-doh with toddler
- Wakes husband up at 10:30 am
- Showers
- Runs errands at 3 stores and goes grocery shopping
- Returns home at 2:00 pm to find husband sleeping on couch
- Wakes him and tells him to go back to bed
- Preps and cooks meals for the next few days
- Gets kids out of bed when they wake from naps
- Fixes kids’ snacks, puts on a movie, crashes onto the floor and unintentionally acts as a jungle gym for the kids
Dad on the first day of the “Man Flu” (7:00 am – 4:00 pm):
- Hears wife waking up
- Head is pounding, sinuses are aching, throat is scratchy*
- Realizes he has the Man Flu and goes back to sleep
- Wife wakes him at 10:30 am so she can run errands
- Lies down on the couch covering his face with a pillow while baby is in swing and toddler plays on floor
- Feeds baby at 11:00 am and changes a #2 diaper
- Texts wife that he fed the baby and changed a #2 diaper
- Feeds toddler lunch at 11:30 am
- Texts wife that he fed the toddler lunch
- Puts baby and toddler down for naps at 12:30 pm
- Goes back to sleep on the couch
- Wife wakes him at 2:00 pm to go in the bedroom if he’s going to sleep all day
- Sleeps for the rest of the day
*I ran this by my husband before publishing this post. He wanted our readers to know with certainty that his colds are way worse than mine.**
**Delusion is a common symptom of the Man Flu.
