Us women often complain about the Man Cold.
When we get sick, we feel achey and feverish, congested and sniffley, altogether lousy and yet still we manage to forge ahead. The option to call in sick is not there. We pull ourselves from bed, we feed the children, we clean the house, we answer phone calls, we run our errands and we keep our homes from falling apart.
We will ask our husbands for a bit of sympathy, perhaps some help with baths for the kids and they will agree with a huff and a sigh and we might be given a few minutes to collapse on the couch where we will be free to blow our noses in the company of The Real Housewives of Orange County.
When our husbands get sick they fall apart. They stay home from work, they need soup, they need to stay in bed for at least two days in silence with their laptop set up conveniently on their nightstands. They will say things like, “My God! Is this what you felt life?” and they will sniffle and moan and you will play the role of both mom and dad until he’s able to pull himself together.
It’s a pitiful and sad state of affairs when a man comes down with The Man Cold, but one question begs to be answered…at what age do our men officially become pathetic cold carrying delinquents?
The answer. My friends. Has come to surface through careful specimen analysis and I feel confident in sharing with you, that at three years, 6 months, and 19 days The Man Cold officially manifests itself within the mini version of the male species.
My son caught a bug five days ago. What ensued was two days of sad Mini Man Cold lounging and three days of mommy-wanting-candy-needing-tantrum-throwing-sad-boy-snuggling manhoodness.
I love my men. I love them dearly.
But holy sweet mother of God if I live through another Man Cold in this lifetime I deserve to be knighted into the Sainthood. I am now on a mission to keep them as healthy as possible for the rest of their lives.
Rachel {at} Mommy Needs a Vacation says
DUDE. I feel your pain! Almost 2 year old mini-man was sick for 2 weeks. 2 weeks!!! Followed by husband getting the worst case of strep throat EVAH…10 days. And now? The mini-man is sick…AGAIN!! Can I be accepted into that Sainthood with you?
Kristin says
OMG! I knew I wasn’t the only one out there with this problem! I get sick and still I deal with it all, my fiance gets sick and his world comes to a stand still. The house must remain quiet and the children must not come near him. I thought it was just cause he’s a big whiner but then I catch my 3yr old pulling the same stuff when he’s sick. If all my boys ever get sick at the same time…I’m jumping ship.
Erin says
ACK!! Know it….have the 3.5 year old and the 2.5 year old boys sick….and now I’m getting it….you think I can get a break? NOPE!!
Lena says
Oh I know what you mean.. My husband is 23 and The Man Cold is horrible with him. o.O Makes me want to commit murder sometimes. lmao And idk. My husband gets all touchy feely baby come here… erm. no thank you I do not want to get sick husband, I get sick enough on my own thank you very much, don’t need your help with that. lol
Lynnie says
My husband has a blankie too….but it is pink.
hillary says
Agreed! Guys are the WORST! When we are sick at the same time, my husband always starts this competition of who has the highest temperature. So annoying.
Karen and Gerard says
Me and my husband are just the opposite. When I have a cold, all I want to do is crash. In my defense, I can’t take any decongestant medicine because of the other medications I am on. I just suffer through using orange juice and minute rub. I moan and groan. My husband just sucks it up and keeps on going after going to bed early maybe one night. I hardly can tell he even has a cold.
trash says
Zinc. Make them eat bucketfuls of zinc. Some new study has shown it helps prevent colds.
Jen says
I totally feel your pain. I am at the end of a four week long run of colds b/c God for fib each one of my ‘men’ get a cold at that same time.
Just be thankful you only have 2 mens in your house. At least you have that.
Ry says
ugh! I have been knee deep in a sick house complete with the daddy suffering from a WEEK LONG man cold….I’m still trying to decide which of the gods I pissed off and how…so I can avoid ever ever doing it again! :) love the new research development, at least I know I have about 2 more years now before I have to endure the mini man cold…lol
the domestic fringe says
So funny! Hope all your men are well soon.
-FringeGirl
Amy says
AH! Last month I had pneumonia for a week, a fever of 104 and thought daily about stuffing my head under a pillow but somehow I still managed to cook dinner, clean, go to the gym and take the dog out. This past week hubs was kind of sick (“fever” of 99) and had a limp (from an injury) and you would have thought he had been run over by a mack truck and infected with the plague. From now on he takes Vitamin C with every meal. No questions asked.
Heather says
HAHA! This is SOOOO true! I have a miniman that goes through the same thing when he has a cold.
Courtney says
Tell it sister! I live in a house full of men/mini-men and it’s all the same. I really wish I could call in sick from motherhood on occasion – or at least call a sub (I used to be a teacher). Mommy-subs would be great! Hope they stay healthy for you!
Mrs. Jen B says
So I’m not the only one. I mean, I knew I wasn’t the only one with a whiny man, but I didn’t know for sure that it’s the female of the species who traditionally has to suck it up and move along with things while the male cries for a few days. I really thought I was just especially lucky. I feel better even though I should be crying…
Tori says
It’s pretty pathetic, isn’t it? My husband took THREE days off work last time he caught a cold (This was after the baby and I had been snotty for a week or so and still managed to survive). I am working on a scientific study to prove that boobs make a person more capable of functioning through a minor cold. I’m feeling pretty good about it :)
Lizgizzy says
I soooooo feel your pain. We’ve been trading crap back and forth in our house since December, and I’m thinking that if one of my men gets sick again, I’m going to send them to live in the back yard under a tree.
little Miss Gonnabe says
Ok, I’ll be the first to say this about myself: I am the worst nurse ever. I have zero tolerance for whining and I hate having to see my husband napping or sneezing or doubled over with stomach flu.
I’m much nicer to our kids when they get sick but when the big strong man is down I just can’t deal with it.
misty says
This is so, so true… and you know what, I lose patience SO quick…
Crystal says
Oh Man the Man Cold!! I have 4 boys and daddy,of course, and when germs invade my home the PityParty comes with it. FIrst I have to nurse all of my men back to health and then I inevitably come down with their mutated germs…and no sympathy is reciprocated toward me. What whimps!!
Mom Went Crazy says
Dude. I’m so glad I had two daughters. My husband and his man-coldness drives me crazy. He won’t call in sick to work, so instead his mission is to make everyone else as miserable as he is. Often he won’t say that he is sick until days into the man cold and by then he’s been a sniveling biotch for a few days, already.
Rima says
I don’t think my kid got the memo. The last time he had a fever, he was still pile diving off the couch. Hmmm . . .
Jennifer says
I developed some kind of awful coughing funk over the weekend. Of course that means David’s throat is now hurting tonight? One guess as to who will be the “sicker” person?
Cori says
Poor little guy. Poor Mama!
Okay, love your new topper of SuperYou at Pike Place Market catchin’ fish!!
Erin says
Amen, sister girlfriend. I will start the process for your sainthood myself as I feel your pain and know how heroic it is for you to forge ahead most valiantly in the face of said mancold.
Jessica says
I am glad that I don’t have boys so that I only have to deal with one male having a man cold in my house. It is very pathetic what happens when they are sick.
JDaniel4's Mom says
I have a trouble with the you have a cold and I might catch it so I better rest now disease at my house.
emmajewel says
My 11 year old only feels sick when he is SICK. As in, 101 degree temp, vomit, diarrhea and any other symptom of illness. Pale lips are the way I know when he’s sick – otherwise he’s all happy :)
Can’t wait for puberty to hit – then it’ll be all about the man cold…