What A 'Sick Day' As A Mom Really Looks Like

Anytime life gets you down and you feel like you can’t handle one more question, one more sibling argument, or one more mom, I’m hungry.

Remember, it can be ever worse — you could get sick.

I think that before I actually became a mom, I dreamt of sick days to be filled with breakfasts in bed, handwritten notes with all the words spelled wrong, and misshapen pancakes —​ but the reality is far from that dream. I’m flustered just thinking about it.

6 AM: Rise and shine

Alarm sounds loudly to wake you from your slumber. On a typical day, you must scamper down the hall almost immediately to get the littles up and their day started so that you can get to work, get them to school, or whatever your day has in store for you.

Sans children you could turn the damn thing off, call in sick, and roll back over; but with kids, who will do your job?

Maybe they could take care of themselves? That’s probably child neglect, or something.

Alas, the day must continue as scheduled. So, down the hallway you go (after grabbing a huge sweater to combat your body aches and chills, of course).

Midday

Taking a nap this morning on the couch while Child #1 is at school and Child #2 watched Kinder Surprise Egg unboxing videos on YouTube (what is up with that, anyway?) is almost impossible. My brain won’t turn off as I run through everything that needed to get done today.

Child #2 wants lunch. Closest box of cereal, served with a string cheese appetizer.

I finally doze off for 10 minutes to the sound of “Peppa Pig” when my alarm goes off, alerting me that child #1 needs picked up from school.

Crap. I never took a shower and I’m wearing the exact same thing as I did at drop-off. Think anyone will notice?

Dinner

Takeout anyone?

Yes. Takeout.

Bedtime

I’ve taken all the Dayquil that my liver can handle at this point in the day and it’s time to switch to the nighttime stuff (hang in there, liver!).

I’m silently praying that it knocks me out so hard that I can’t hear any whining and my husband is forced to roll over and handle whatever nighttime dilemma the kids are facing — even if it’s the middle of the night. Please Nyquil, show a girl some mercy.

Oh wait, I drank way too much hot tea and orange juice today that my bladder won’t go to sleep, leaving me running back and forth from the bedroom to the toilet.

Great, Kid #1 just woke up with a nightmare and guess who just happens to be in the hallway already.

Yep. Me.

I finally get back to bed, lay my head on the pillow, and the 6 AM alarm goes off again.

The day must pretty much carry on as usual whenever mom is sick, as traditional “sick days” no longer exist. Getting sick on a weekend or a day that your partner is home brings an added touch of help, but we all know that we can’t give up all of the control, no matter how sick we are.

This post originally appeared on Ravishly.