How I Kept My (Sick) Preschooler Still

Normally, I am an advocate for running, jumping, spinning, and anything that keeps my kids active and engaged.  But my sweet Skyland still isn't feeling well. He doesn't care; he wants to run around, play and spread germs. I, on the other hand,  feel as if his body needs rest. So here's what I've been doing to keep him still, and away from his sister.

1. Educational Work 
He actually asked, "Mommy, can we have school?" So I pulled it all out: coloring, flash cards, name spelling, writing, puzzles, letter and number review, we even did a science experiment. (We did this Sink or Float Experiment today; We loved it! I even made a game out of it using a chart; Whoever had the most predictions right, won. Azariah Parker was the champion!)
My boy loves to learn, so all of thes
e activities kept him busy almost two hours of the day!
2. Crafts
We are on the letter B in our schooling: so we made bracelets with beads. Simple, yet time consuming.  They were focused on this about 45 minutes, surprisingly.

3. Ginger Ale (or any other rarity) 
I don't give my kids soda, but when they aren't feeling well: I let them have small amounts of Ginger Ale. Because soda is a rare luxury reserved for the sick, my kids sat still for an entire 45 minutes sipping their quarter cup of soda.
4. Favorite Movies 
Today we've watched: Madagascar 3, Shrek (twice),  King King (circa 1970's), and Hercules.
They got to pick the movies, so they were more than happy to sit and watch them! And even though I've seen Shrek well over 600 times by now (I'm guessing), I am always happy to sit and watch it with them, the first viewing.  Around 6 hours of movies kept him still. It's okay to let the TV babysit some days, especially when you need them to sit in one place.
5. Stories
I told him the story of Cain & Abel, we did a joint story on Simba, and he told me a very long story that made no sense. (I don't have the slightest idea what his story was about.)  But he was still, and his body was resting like I wanted.  He also sat and read books out loud and to himself.
This kept him entertained maybe a half hour.
6. Bath Time...Alone
My boys usually bathe together, but not today. I put Skyland in the tub with a few tub toys, to be sanitized later, and he was content with that for a while. It wasn't the hour that he usually stays in the tub, it was only 25-30 minutes, but his butt is clean.  So time well spent.
7. Nap
He absolutely refused.  But I dug down deep, pulled my inner daycare teacher out, and he had to lay there for two hours.  (I made Azariah lay down too, and he had the audacity to fall asleep ten minutes before it was time to get up.) Anyhow, forcing him to rest made me feel like a mean mommy, but it was two hours of needed rest for my feverish baby's body.

In between those ideas, I became hopeless and, regrettably, talked to him with a fuzzy sock on my hand.  That only killed five minutes of the day, and the shame and desperation of it will live on.  Skyland did get to play and run  an hour or two today.  But I feel as if I achieved my goal of getting him to rest, without hearing him fuss about it all day long.  

Today I learned how different he is from me.  I pretty much have to be drug out the bed by my hair and given the entire bottle of Dayquil when I'm sick.  But he had me spending the day trying to figure out how to keep his little body from coughing everywhere and cutting flips.  But the day is ending; he's calm, and bedtime is in ten minutes. And I have successfully kept my sick little chap at bay, most of the day.  

That deserves wine, right?