When I Was a Kid.....

My mom, an actual RN, did all the medicating and temp taking.

But my dad, clueless to anything medical did something I will miss forever. He would sit next to me as I lay sick in bed and he would stroke my forehead over and over. He even did it (for the last time) when I was pregnant and lying down, resting. What I would give to feel his hand on my forehead, his only form of soothing me. I hope he knew that it always worked.

Needless to say, I do the same thing to my kids. I hope they get the same feeling that I did as a kid.

We also did the chicken soup and popsicles... and jello. We usually got to watch a special movie while camped out on the couch and some sort of little craft kit (like shrinky dinks or braiding a friendship bracelet or a pony bead craft), and mad libs!

In fact, as an adult I still do those things for me, my hubs and my kids when we are sick.

I love paper dolls too :)

My mom always put a fresh clean sheet on the couch and I got to lay there with the TV on. She also gave me paperdolls and coloring books and my all time favorite ColorForms... those little plastic sticky things you could set on some premade background (do they still make those?) Also, the little magnet guy that you could put a beard and mustache on and such. Cheap dollar store stuff is always good when you are sick on the couch :)
Yep, I did the same for my kids, along with the cool cloth to the forehead and foot-rubs.

I want your mom. My mom would just say I was faking and send me to school anyway. :(

My kids were never sick.

What the heck I feel deprived on more than one level.....

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ooh yeah!! my mom pulled out the white sheets and put them on the couch and let me watch TV all day.

EDIT: she would sit on the couch too with my head in her lap and I could sleep soundly like that - she would play with my hair and scratch my back...

She made me chicken noodle soup with saltines!!!

When I was in HS and recovering from knee surgery, she would go to Mc Donald's for me. and then bring home a Stephen King or Danielle Steele book!!

THANK YOU Theresa for the warm memories!!

My mom would make me a pallet on the sofa, then she would bring me hot sweet tea on a tray along with a little snack.

Now, this may not sound like a big deal, but it was the grandaddy of all pallets. There was a folded blanket as matress pad, a sheet tucked all around that blanket and the cushions. Not just any sheet, either, a percale sheet that had been washed a million times and was so soft it was like silk and velvet had a baby. I got the best pillows and my Ragedy Ann blanket.

When my kids are sick, I make the grandaddy of pallets and we have the sick blanket. It is the softest blanket in the house that is only brought out when we are sick. I snuggle them in and bring them hot tea and a snack to take with their medicine. Unless it's the stomach flu then it's broth or saltines or ice chips. But they get the blanket and the pallet for sure.

When I was little if we got sick we got shipped to my grandma because my dad was either or dialysis or after has kidney transplant taking meds that destroyed his immune system. I got chicken pox and my grandpa made rainbow brite shrinky dinks with me :)

When my kiddos are sick they get ginger ale, new coloring books, and crayons :)

My mom was all about the simple approach. If it couldn't be cured by a cool bath and cold compress, saltines, 7-up, pepto, Nyquil, Tyelonol or Robitussin, you were out of luck. I still try all that with my kids, along with some modern medicine. Lots of cuddling and they might get to lay on the couch and watch cartoons on the big tv. That's a real treat for them.

When I was little and sick (really sick)...
- got to sleep on the couch
- rented movies to watch all day long
- homemade soup if throat was sore
- McDonald's if it wasn't (huge treat)
- allowed to drink soda

When my little guy is sick...
- gets to sleep on the couch
- cuddle and watch movies
- soup or a treat for "nourishment"
- ginger ale
- his daddy brings home a little toy for him (b/c his daddy did it for him when he was little and sick). Nothing big- Matchbox car or new crayons, but something little to make him smile

Great question. My oldest was sick a couple of weeks ago. I had to work from home and was under the gun with a deadline so I couldn't just drop everything and wait on him hand and foot (he's 13 and wasn't that sick). He was pretty pitiful: "Mimi (my mother, who watched my kids a few days a week when they were younger) always gives me saltines and ginger ale...with ice...and a straw...and lets me lay on the couch and watch TV all day long when I'm sick..."

I did eventually run to the store for saltines, ginger ale and straws but oh boy was there a guilt trip for not being as good as my own mother is when my kids are sick!

Chicken soup and Tom Tucker Mint Ginger Ale.

I still buy mint ginger ale for my son when he's sick.
and the rule in our house is if you're sick you can eat and drink whatever you want & feel up to having. And he gets to pick movie after movie to watch with mom!

I got to lay on the couch and watch TV, had warm ginger al and saltine crackers. My mom would also pat me down with rubbing alcohol and water, back then we didnt know not to do that. Lotsof popsickles

Hmm I never got paper dolls or new coloring books... :-( rats!

I remember having strep as a child, and mom went to get my antibiotics, and came home with a white paper bag of jelly beans for me. They had to have been Jenny Bellys. Oh the sound of the paper bag, and the taste...

I still too want to talk to my Mommy when I am sick.. Hubby is wonderful can caring and does what ever I need.. but still.. Mommy is it..

When I was sick I would lay on the floor in the bathroom. I grew up in Southern California so it was pretty hot and that was the only cool spot in the house. I don't remember my mom doing much, I was the oldest of 5, she was busy with everyone else. As an adult though, she has totally stepped up and helped me when I have been crazy sick.
L.

Aw, I loved paper dolls too!!! And the feel and smell of a brand new box of crayons, I still love it. But my kids have ALWAYS preferred markers <sigh>

My grandma was the one taking care of me when I was little. I remember ginger ale and saltines, pepto bismal (sp?) and boiled peeled potatoes with a little butter and parsley. Oh, and those children's chewable aspirin, called St. Josephs, I think? I also remember laying next to her on the couch, she watched all the game shows, The Price is Right was our favorite.

When my kids are sick I let them spend the day in my bed since there's a TV in there but not in any of their rooms. They usually like soup, toast, crackers, 7 Up. Cold compress and maybe Motrin for fever.

She would bring me a whole box of stuff - but always included lucozade, which is a British drink, similar to gatorade, but tastes so much better and is fizzy.
My mother died when I was 30, but I will always remember her boxes she would bring.

When I was sick-
If I didnt end up in the hospital with a fever of a 105 (which is what usually happened) then I got
chicken noodle cup o soup in your own cup, 7-up, chocolate milk and toast- I am sure she would have let me watch TV but I always read in my room and she made sure nobody disturbed me ( there were 5 kids so that wasnt easy)
she wasnt much of a cuddle person.

When my boys are sick-
Chicken noodle cup o soup in the penguin cups ( I really dont know why that is the only time we ever use the penguin cups and the only time we ever use cup o noodle)
home made Orange Julius - you know for the throat
cuddle on the couch, watch whatever they want even my teenager still cuddles on the couch
Chocolate milk- they dont like toast
They are not sick very often and it usually only lasts 1 or 2 days at the most
I hope they still want their mom when they get older

Canada dry, saltines, and campbels chicken noodle soup

My parents weren't much for bringing us to the doc or giving us meds, BUT- if it was an upset stomach, ginger ale. For ANYTHING else, my mother wold rub our legs with alcohol. That was the best for the attention and the touch. What a great memory.

I didn't really get too much special treatment when I was sick, and it seems like I was sick all the time. I remember complaining to my mom a lot that I didn't feel good first thing in the morning but she would ALWAYS insist that I go to school anyway. I don't remember a single time when she let me stay home without making me go to school first. I even remember being sent to school with pink eye even though my eyes were all matted shut in the morning. Each time that I told her I didn't feel well I would end up in the nurse's office with a fever and they would have to call my mom to come get me. I used to be the first or second kid at the doctor's office every year with strep throat. I also remember getting bronchitis, tonsilitis, ear infections and scarlet fever - which the doctor said was very close to turning into rheumatic fever. My mom would always come pick me up from school, take me to the doctor and then to the pharmacy to get my medicine and then she would drop me off at home and go back to work. I actually hated it on the rare occasion she stayed home with me because she always said that if I was home sick then I needed to stay in bed (instead of lying on the couch watching tv). I love my mom dearly (and I know that she loves me), but it's always been very clear to me that work came first. She works full-time now and also has a part-time job to help keep her busy and she has even canceled plans with me and my daughter, her only grandchild, because someone asked her to cover their shift at her part-time job and she just couldn't say no. I'm used to being treated that way, but it really pisses me off when she does that to my daughter.

Sorry for being such a spoilsport but I guess I just wish my mom would have been a little more motherly at times.

My daughter is only 5 and luckily she hasn't been sick with anything other than a cold for quite a while. Whenever she's sick I just stay home and love on her. I put movies in for her to watch and let her eat jell-o and drink juice all day. I just try to baby her as much as possible.

FYI - I saw some paperdoll books at Target and Walmart recently (where the coloring books are). I actually bought one for my daughter but haven't given it to her yet. I remember when I was little I used to love paperdolls - they were one of my favorite things to play with. I had a shoebox full of them and my mom set it on top of the car when we were getting ready to go somewhere and then forgot about it until it was too late. They were gone and I was so heartbroken.

I wish they would bring back Fashion Plates too. :)

I remember staying in bed and reading, not much tv. One tradition we had was a secret stash of "sick people's soda" hidden in the coat closet. My parents got sick a lot too- my mom gets migraines- so I we usually kept things quiet with each person in their own room.
When I'm sick I call my mom. Talking to her on the phone(while lying in bed with my eyes closed) takes my mind off feeling bad. When my son is sick, he stays in bed in the guest room, watches tv, and drinks powerade.

I was totally into paper dolls! I had a sturdy paper doll book with a large boy and girl and pairs of outfits from different countries. Another book had paper punch-out and assemble doll furniture like a rocking chair and grandfather clock. I also got some old paperdolls out of my grandmother's attic that belonged to my aunt. I had no idea who Roy Rogers or the Lennon sisters were, but I liked making my own clothing designs for them out of notebook paper.

My mom brought me roses and lilacs from the garden. She's make me popcorn and grilled cheese sandwiches. That was special enough.

My mom would bundle me up on the couch, rent some kids movies, bring me soup and the cure all 7 UP.

I wasn't really allowed off the couch much when I was sick, I used to get huge fever spikes and passed out a few times. After the third time I whacked my head on something, mom confined me to the couch with the exception of bathroom uses. But, I got waited on hand and foot, so I didn't complain! LOL

We used to bring in the airmattress and lay down on it in front of the TV with my daughter. We finally busted that thing, but she hasn't been really sick since January. Almost a year with no illnesses, and she is only three! Now I will go and knock on every piece of wood I can find.

My mom gave us chicken soup and ginger ale (or ginger tea). She also let us (my brother and sister too) camp out on the sofa and watch TV all day (although we usually slept). I usually do the same for my daughter except she doesnt like soda so we have juice and chicken soup. She has only been real sick a couple of times so I am thankful for that.

Also she has paperdolls too, I can't remember where we found them though. I think in the book store.

Wow, Theresa, I loved paper dolls!! And, Grandma T, I haven't thought about Colorforms in a long time -- those were awesome!

When my brother had his tonsillectomy, he got a load of presents & I got something too -- I remember the toy included some Monkey plastic thingies you could stick together (red, blue & yellow)... then when I had mine, the folks brought on more toys.

Just regular illness, no. My parents spoiled us big time (with things, not letting us get by with stuff). I only have one child and whenever she had to get a shot (especially chicken pox shot, which I was on the fence about), she would get a "prize." To this day (she's 17), she tries to get prizes for shots. lol.

I was just sick with the flu and wanted my mommy too! Growing up I remember ginger ale and dry toast and reading in bed. This past time that I was just sick it wasn't the same... I watched Law & Order instead down in the family room and realized actually missed reading in bed!

I also remember getting strep a lot and having antibiotics crushed up in peanut butter. I still remember the taste!

With my kids I give them ginger ale and toast/crackers but they do not stay upstairs... we watch special movies...
~ C.

When I was a kid my mom would make me comfy-cozy on the coach and would bring me a big stack of the newest Teen Bop magazines and a 7-up and soup and saltines!

I remember getting paperdolls too! I wish I could find them for my daughter.

My kids are not sick oftern (knock on wood) but when they do get sick - they are out! as in sleeping the whole day away. So usually I get them a movie from blockbuster and let them watch a few toons while they snooze the sickness away.

Your so sweet... I would have LOVED that if my mom did that for me as a kid. (but I think I am like how my kids are - just sleep when they are sick)

I would just stay in the living room reading and watching tv. Sometimes after school my friends would come over and sit with me. They`d bring their Bop magazines with them and we would chat about Nsync & the Backstreet Boys. That's when I had to stay home from school.

when Delilah js sick, I usually let her chill in the living room and watch tv, etc. Sometimes my mom would come over to see her.

my mother was wonderful but didn't coddle us much. When we were sick was about the only time she did. We got tea and honey and were allowed to watch television curled up with a blanket. When I get sick I want to watch movies all day! To bad there are no sick days when you are a mom.

That's funny...we would get ginger ale or 7UP along with crayons or coloring books as well! I will try to do the same for my kids, however, sometimes I can't get to the store so they are stuck with what we have at home. BUT, sometimes grandma will run out and get them something.

My mother didn't do much parenting when we were sick. At 11, if I was sick, I was home alone for the day. I do remember the shots of penicillin when I was sick. I can't say that I did much special for my own kids, due to their rare instances of illness - my 16 year old has not missed a day of school for illness since 4th grade and has not seen a doctor for a sick visit since before kindy :)

My kids get lots of sprite or ginger ale :) hey i know it's alot of sugar but for a few days ...ah so what :)