Being sick is never fun, but being sick when you're a parent is the worst hell imaginable. Not only do parents make the worst patients, parents make the worst sick people in general: We can't rest, we can't give our bodies time to heal, and we can't stop doing all the things a parent has to do. I mean, we can do all of those things (and because we're not idiots, we usually do), but it feels...weird. And we don't like it. How have we not figured out a way for parents to just never get sick at all? It's 2016. Pull it together, Science.
When another human being (especially a small one, who can't take care of themselves) relies on you at all hours of the day, being sick can feel less like a nuisance, and more like a death sentence. Symptoms seem more severe, you're sick for a longer period of time, and it's all because you can't "take it easy" like every doctor on the planet is advising you to do. You're run down and you're stressed out and you just want to spend time with your first love: your bed.
But you can't, because you're a parent now and that means downing DayQuil for breakfast while you try to make it through another day of horrible headaches, high fevers, and a relentless stream of snot. (Just me?) Parents simply don't take care of themselves as often as they should, mostly because society has conditioned us to believe that constantly sacrifice is necessary, but also because we care about someone else, more than ourselves. Even at our most miserable, we still want to make sure that our kids have everything they need, when they need it.
So, here are 10 reasons why being sick when you're a parent is the absolute worst, because misery loves company and hey, at least we're all in this hell together.