Tip Tuesday — SICK!

What do you do to entertain your kids when they are too-sick-to-go-outside but not-sick-enough-to-lie-passively on-the-couch? Or when one is sick and the other is bored silly?

What are some alternatives to TV-watching for little kids (under three) when Mommy is too sick to do anything but lie on the couch?

These questions are brought to you by Keryn.

A few answers can be found on Tuesdays past.  I had a great answer to the first part of the question but then I read the second part and was all…um…TV-free…of coouuurse.

1. Buckets — Obviously you’d want a barf bucket handy.  Another good one is a bucket, bowl or Rubbermaid tote full of beans (preferably uncooked) and some cups and scoops to dig with.  They love it and the beans are easier to clean up than sand or rice.

2. Finger painting with pudding.  You can choose colored varieties like banana, chocolate, butterscotch and pistachio or you can just use vanilla and color it with food coloring.  Have them paint on LARGE paper or plates and then can lick themselves off.  I discourage cross-contamination by “helping” each other get clean, especially if only one is sick.

3.  Make them clean.  Like the other two, I have used this.  When I just can’t get up off the couch, I have Laylee clean her room which takes anywhere from 1 to 10 hours.  There’s a lot of whining but I can handle that in a semi-narcoleptic state.

4.  Tell them they’re your mommy.  When I’m sick, I like to have Laylee pretend she’s my mommy.  She covers me with blankets, reads me stories, brushes my hair and sings to me.  I encourage the singing so if it stops, I know to freak out and go searching for body parts. 

I’m sure you all can do better than this.  Please answer Keryn’s question so I can steal your ideas next time one of us goes down.

reasons: 83 more sleeps, Papa Murphy, spider-cide spray in my crawlspace