Survival

That's what we've been focusing on lately. Survival.
It started with a sweet baby who had a cold, and fussed night and day, stubbornly repudiating sleep.  Although that was energy consuming, it was survivable.  I felt mostly peachy, and armed with about 150 mg of caffeine a day, I was good to go. Sleep was for wimps.
You see where this is going, right?
Well, in my foolishness I forgot that I can only survive so long on caffeine and no sleep.  The result, now I've caught a different cold, which I've passed on to Mr. Teething with a Cold.  That's right.  A whole new round of fevers, running noses, coughs and misery for the baby, coupled with mom who feels like she has snot for blood.


So, since someone should benefit, my Top 10 Sickness Survival Tips.


1. Cancel, cancel, cancel.  If it's not absolutely necessary, cancel it.  Appointments, blog memes, whatever. Call, email, txt whomever you need to so you can focus on recovering.
2. Love the environment later.  I am all about the hankie for blowing your nose, but frankly, I only have so many, and doing laundry when I'm really sick isn't helping anyone out.  So yep, if I'm really sick and running out of cloth nosesipes?  Toilet paper works.  So do tissues, but really?  Buying paper specifically for nose blowing? No thank you.
3. Accept help.  It's harder than it sounds, but being the Allmother and doing all things by yourself all the time is just going to leave you more tired and more sick.  Let your spouse/partner/older kids help out by cooking for you- even if it's gross macaroni and cheese.  Starving doesn't actually help anyone heal.  When they ask "can I get you anything," don't sigh "no," because the directions you'd need to give them are more than two sentences.  Take a deep breath, make eye contact, and tell them what you need.
4. Got water?  Keep a glass or BPA free reusasable water bottle by your bed or by the couch where you're laying trying not to die.  Fluids are your friends.
5. Have someone help you kidlet proof your bedroom and any other room you might lose consciousness in, and then keep the door closed so that if your baby gets loose while you're busy not dying, you don't have to freak out that they're going to eat your tax records, get tangled in computer cords, or find the power drill.
6. This one involves prep.  Sick toys.  You're sick, your kidlet is probably sick too.  Keep a box of EASILY WASHABLE toys that baby only plays with when sick.  Then have someone HELP you put away the regular toys and get these out when you're sick.  Whether they're hard toys that are easy to scrub down or soft toys that wash up well, be sure to wash them and put them away when everyone's recovered.  These are extra fun for the wee one, and more apt to capture baby's attention longer because they're a special treat.  
7.  Use the phone.  Remember that whole starvation sucks thing?  Well it does. Sucks the life right out of you.  So if it comes down to it, and you can afford it, don't be afraid to order in.  You're not going to snog the pizza gal, so you're probably not going to get her sick.  And even if the food isn't the wonderfully nutrient packed goodness you'd have cooked if you were feeling 100%, again, starvation bad.
8. DVDs.  You're not going to get anything done.  Don't try to pretend you're going to use this down time to catch up on the family tree, or knit that baby blanket for your best friend's sister's shower. No one wants a plague blanket.  Veg out already and get better.
9.  Accept that some days you just don't have 9 in you and roll on.
10. Keep your phone handy so you can text, IM, tweet, and FB your way through.  To those of you who can't do these things on your phone... well, I'm sorry, but after last year's bedrest episode, I can't imagine not having any means of contacting the outside world and my best suggestion is to bring your laptop to bed with you.


Note- I never assume anyone is going to be so helpful as to take the baby for most of the day. Besides, if you're breastfeeding, that wouldn't help at all anyway.