Never Saw That Coming

Prior to having kids, getting sick is mostly a minor inconvenience. It is a day or two of rest you probably need anyways and some mild discomfort to help you appreciate the other times more. However, once you have children, it is soooo much worse. Now, I'm not any more sick than I would be if I didn't have kids. But, since we love our children (and if you think it sucks to be sick, try taking care of sick 1 and 3 year olds), Meggan and I basically quarantine ourselves in our bedroom if we ever have anything contagious. There is something sort of maddening about being stuck in your room all day - the bed isn't as comfortable as a couch, the TV is much smaller than the one in the living room, the conversation sucks unless you are really good at talking to yourself, etc.  All those are easy to see and make perfect sense as to why being sick with kids is worse. However, today (since it is apparently my turn to be quarantined) I am dealing with something I never saw coming.- guilt. I feel guilty for missing ballet and swimming. I feel guilty for not being able to help with Everett. I feel guilty for not being available to take Amelia to her friend's birthday party. I feel guilty that Meggan has to do it all. Naturally, Meggan just wants me to get better and hasn't in any way acted frustrated by this situation.  And also naturally, there will be times where the roles are reversed either due to illness or work  But, none of that erases the way I feel when I hear Everett crying or Amelia asking for help with something. None of that will help tonight when Meggan has to do bath and bed time by herself. And none of that will matter when I don't get to tuck the kids into bed.  So, for any of us, being sick really sucks. For us parents, though, it basically removes us from our families.