The only thing worse than being sick as a parent, or having a sick kid to care for and worry about, is when both you and your kid are sick at the same time. Sadly, this will probably happen more than you could even hope to prepare for, because kids get adults sick and adults get kids sick and the cycle of germs is a vicious, vindictive one.
Honestly, only the unconditional, other-worldly love that a parent has for his or her kid, could make it possible for a sick person to take care of another sick person. The last thing you want to do when you're nauseous and dehydrated and you have a fever and you're all achy is nurse someone else back to health. You want to be the one getting soup and medication and having someone do the dirty work while you lie in bed, sleeping your way back to a clear head and a normal temperature. But you can't. Someone else is sick, and it's someone who is tiny and looking to you for help and not yet shackled to the unrelenting responsibilities of adulthood. So mothers and fathers (especially single mothers and fathers) don't let the horrible symptoms of whatever illness they're fighting stop them from taking care of their sick kid.
Sick parents taking care of sick kids is nothing new, but it definitely doesn't mean it's any easier. It's the worst. So with that in mind, here are 11 reasons why you and your kid being sick at the same time is the worst hell on earth. If you can't escape your reality, you might as well learn to bask in it.