Staying at Home When Kids are Sick

Plan for Kids Being Home Sick

What do you do when your kid is home sick? Whether you work from home or not, taking care of your young child definitely shifts your daily priorities. So, what do you do when you’re trying to get things done that you need to get done?

Well, as cliché as it sounds, you need to game plan these days “off.” That’s right, create a plan for when your kids get sick. Even if you can’t get everything done on your to-do list, you’ll be satisfied with what you were able to accomplish. That’s the power of making a list. Go down the list, one at a time, marking a line through it (or placing a check mark next to it) and moving on to the next one.

Where to Start?

When it comes to making a list, figure out what you most want to accomplish. Then, rank all of the other tasks in what you feel is necessary or more likely to complete. For example, I recently stayed home with Marshall, so I could take him to the doctor’s office. So, I have to decide what’s on my to-do list that takes precedent.

On this particular day, I had a few different agenda items already scheduled.

Outline discussion points for a bourbon tasting/review
Edit an article that Meghan wrote
Build a completed article on our website
Social media (Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter)

Ranking and Completing

So, did I complete everything on my list? Nope. But, I was able to determine the most important task on this list. Once I knew that, it was simple to then rank these tasks.

Build a completed article on our website
Social Media
Edit an article that Meghan wrote
Outline discussion points for a bourbon tasting/review

So, staying at home with my son means my attention will be semi-fractured. Most of my time is making sure he’s okay and then using these gaps between to get stuff done. Sometimes, I have 20 minutes here. Sometimes, I have 2 minutes there. After I picked the most important item, I placed social media on the list next, because of my ability to dive into social media even if my little guy is snuggling on the couch with me.

The other items are important, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s much easier to just understand I have to utilize whatever limited time I have. Also, it helps that I know I can work on those other points later in the evening once Meghan gets home or after everyone goes to sleep.

Don't Get Lost in Lists

I used to consider myself a list freak. I made a list for everything, whether it was for groceries, favorite songs, or even what items to take on a trip. Over the past few years, I felt like the lists almost made me more rigid. As if all I was doing was going from one list to another, without looking up to notice the sky was blue.

When I say, “Don’t get lost in your lists,” I’m just trying to remind you to remember to take a step back and breathe. There are many times when I’ve been sitting with my computer and then realized, “Oh, I haven’t moved in two hours.” Set an hourly reminder to get up and get moving. The change of pace will help you complete your tasks. Fortunately, when your kid is home sick, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to get up and down – and that’s not a bad thing.

Being able to stay home with the kids really puts things in perspective. It makes me remember that I have these two amazing kids, that despite all of their gigantic growth and maturity, they still need me. So, when it comes time to stay home with the kids and you need to get things done, don’t stress. Find that one item that you absolutely want to complete and then the rest will figure itself out.

Writing at Home

If you’re a writer and taking care of your kids, I definitely recommend always placing social media as Option 2. Once you get the one task finished, there will be a sense of accomplishment. Depending on how much time it takes to finish that one task, social media is a fantastic way to check off a second goal. Maybe some of you are thinking, “He’s only asking us to finish one task?” Right. It’s simple. It’s a start.

So, let’s say my son’s doctor’s appointment is at 9:30am. Okay, the morning includes getting the kids ready for the day. One might be going to see the doctor, but Adelaide still needs to go to school. So, add in time to feed them, pack their lunches, making sure they get dressed AND brushing teeth before dropping the little girl off. After that happens, there’s about an hour before the appointment, which means we have about 15 minutes before we need to head right back out the door.

After the doctor’s visit and a trip to the pharmacy, we’re looking at an early lunch. Okay, maybe this will be the time to completely tackle Option 1. Yes, the TV comes on and I try to tackle option 1. After a few here and there requests for a drink (not booze), or giving him medicine for his ear aches (again, not booze), or just when he comes up asking to sit next to me. And when this happens, it usually involves him lying next to me where we’re both covered in a blanket.

Socialize That Time

So, back to trying to get one task done and being completely satisfied with it as a parent. Yes, it’s okay to take these days one step at a time. Yes, I totally support using social media as your next go-to task, whether to promote what you’ve written, send messages to catch up with friends, or like or retweet Ellen DeGeneres because, well, it’s Ellen and she’s awesome and hilarious.

Okay, so your days off with the sick kids might be somewhat of a train wreck, much like this article :D, but it’ll be better if you prepare yourself with a short list of things to do. Unless one of your tasks is to create other lists, you shouldn’t weigh yourself down with multiple lists. Start small. When you’re home with your kids again, because it’ll likely happen, you’ll be better prepared to tackle the world. Well, the world being one more item on that list. So, sure, the world.