It’s the changing of the seasons! Hooray, fall!

It’s the beginning of cold and flu season. Womp womp.

I recently spent a wonderful, lovely day at home with my darling two year old as he fought a fever, sore throat and general illness that rendered him a monster so sad that I couldn’t help but pity him. I was also so lucky as to stay home with Will on his second full day at home, so he wasn’t over being sick, at home, with his parents, at all.

Needless to say, I learned a lot! And I’m here to share. Without further ado, the lessons I’ve learned:

TEN THINGS NOT TO DO WHEN HOME WITH A SICK TODDLER

  1. Go to the DMV*
  2. Expect to shower
  3. Hope that he’ll rest most of the day
  4. Just have any expectations, really
  5. Eskimo kiss your sick toddler (I mean, nose on nose germ exchange is just not worth the pure joy of getting up in their adorable face.)
  6. Leave the house if it means riding in a car seat
  7. Argue against the wearing of just underwear if toddler is not potty trained**
  8. Merely suggest that said toddler should get dressed
  9. Try for an early nap
  10. Respond to any suggestion by your toddler to go somewhere/do something in such a way that darling toddler begins to suspects that brilliant idea wasn’t actually his and he realizes that you planted said idea inside his head, Inception-style, so that you could try for some semblance of joy on this otherwise terrible adventure known as ‘home sick with a toddler.’

And now for the slightly more helpful list of ways to pass your time with a sick not-a-baby and not-yet-school-aged child whilst ill:

ADVERTISEMENT

TEN THINGS TO DO WHEN HOME WITH A SICK TODDLER

1) Build a fort: A fun pastime involving whatever you have around the house – blankets, sheets, pillows, chairs, couches. PLUS, it takes some time, and serves as a fun place to force offer water, Pedialyte, whatever you want, just drink something!

image
Fort! Animated class! Clothes-resistant sick kiddo!

2. Play with moon sand: Will went to TOWN on some moon sand made with flour and baby oil, and it kept him entertained for a solid hour. It wasn’t too terrible to clean up afterward either. Check out three easy recipes here.

3. Turn off all the lights and read books by flashlight: Nothing better than curling up under that fort with a stash of books and your phone flashlight. It lends a sense of ‘special’ to an everyday task and keeps the attention of a sick toddler for slightly longer than a stack of book might normally.

4. Go for a walk: Fresh air is such good medicine. While my kiddo wouldn’t stand for a car seat whilst ill, he was down for a stroller and a long walk through the neighborhood. You might even let your kiddo forego the stroller and just walk – takes longer, wears them out, and lets them feel in control of the adventure! Bring water/a drink to keep kiddo hydrated.

5) Introduce them to favorite animated classics from your childhood: Oh yeah. If there is ever a time to turn to your DVD/VHS collection or Netflix to reveal the wonder that is The Little Mermaid, An American Tail or, if you’re my husband, the classic animated Batman series, now is the time! TV: the best thing to happen to sick days since Ferris Bueller.

6) Make smoothies together: Is it clear that my toddler loves to refuse liquids when sick?! We found great success in making a smoothie together – by letting the kiddo help peel the fruit and put it in the blender, plus the addition of the fun noise the blender makes, I found something that took up some time and equaled increase intake of fluids. Here are some great replenishing recipes.

7) Make puppets: Have some brown paper bags or socks lying around? Gather up paper towel rolls and whatever lingers from that time you thought you could be super crafty and make a mess helping your toddler create his own cow, fairy or monster-looking-thing. Here are tons of ideas to get started.

8) Take a bath: Tested, tried and true. A nice warm bath together helps a sick kiddo feel better, provides a chance for both of you to sit down (sweet goodness, let me sit!), and has the feeling of ‘different’ you might need on a long sick day.

9) Give them a wet wipe and have them help you clean out the pots and pans cupboard. I am not even kidding. If your kid is like mine and loves to ‘help’ or ‘clean’ or really make a lot of noise, get them really excited about wiping down the pots and pans and then be totally chill when the cleaning devolves into pulling all the pots out – and toss them a wooden spoon to bring you back to their pre-walking/speaking baby days. Guaranteed hour of fun, PLUS you get to practice cleaning up and putting it all back together.

10) Make a storybook together. Paper, crayons and bonus points if you have magazines or any pictures of your kid hanging around mean some fun times. Have them talk about a story out loud first, then help them put it together. (My kiddo is currently enjoying a long winding tale that involves climbing a rope to a rocket ship and/or airplane and transports him to a beach. We may have let the excitement we’re trying to build about an upcoming 24-hour trans-Atlantic flight get a little bit away from reality…)

.  .  .  .  .

What are your favorite ways to pass time while home with a sick-yet-active toddler?

*Yes, I really tried to get a new driver’s license while home with a sick kid. Yes, it was the very worst idea I have ever had as a parent. Yes, I almost cried in commiseration several times, and no, I encountered very little compassion in anyone around me.

**All’s well that ends well – we went two hours without a diaper and didn’t have an accident! I haven’t tried again, because I don’t want to ruin this streak, man!