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Original poster

Anyone else facing the dressing gown of doom today?

64 replies

WhenYouCantRunYouCrawl · 03/11/2019 08:33

DD had a cold last week. She's been a bit cranky but otherwise ok. Then I got it and it went straight on my chest. Still managed to get out and about and go for a run though, so not that bad.

Got up early this morning to do some work. Then heard a shuffling down the stairs. It was DH. He's caught the cold. You all know the Shuffle of Sadness. It's almost always accompanied by the Dressing Gown of Doom, along the with Voice of Suffering.

I know I should feel more sympathetic...but after soldering on all week and managing to do all the housework, childcare, and shopping, plus my work from home job, I'm really low sympathy. I'm a terrible person, aren't I...

OP posts:
EskewedBeef · 03/11/2019 08:36

It's sheer luck if you get the low point of a cold on a Sunday. Let him enjoy his day.

WingBingo · 03/11/2019 08:38

Goodness he sounds like my DH

He has the dressing gown of doom too. Along with the broken voice.

Twice this week he has gone to bed at 6, leaving me to bath and bedtime.

He also wraps himself in an extra blanket too.

Original poster
WhenYouCantRunYouCrawl · 03/11/2019 08:40

I've sent him back to bed, I'm not totally heartless, though that might be more so I don't have to listen to him sighing...

OP posts:
slipperywhensparticus · 03/11/2019 08:41

I'm eying up my dressing gown as we speak I feel like shit on a cracker today unfortunately I'm a single parent so I still have to deal with stuff.....I might still do it in my dressing gown though

Brenna24 · 03/11/2019 08:42

Me too. DD and I both got the cold first. DH failed to notice that I had even had it. He has it now and the dressing gown made an appearance. Then DD managed to pee over the side of her potty all over it while he was helping her on the potty. Reader, I managed to keep a straight face while collecting the dressing gown for dumping straight in the wash. He has had to do without it for a day.

Disfordarkchocolate · 03/11/2019 08:42

Your post made me laugh. My husband would love the opportunity to mope around when he's ill, my sympathy runs out so quickly even I feel sorry for him. After 2 hours he gets to carry on with life unless he has D+V. God knows what would happen if he actually needed looking after, I think he'd be terrified. He comes from a family of nurses too so I must have been a shock.

Original poster
WhenYouCantRunYouCrawl · 03/11/2019 08:47

I think I'd be more sympathetic if this was a one off. But this happens every time he's ill, and it's always the case that he has a "flu like virus" whilst the rest of us has a cold Hmm

OP posts:
Mamasaurus82 · 03/11/2019 08:50

Grin this sounds very familiar.

Elodie2019 · 03/11/2019 08:50

He MUST remain in bed all day OP and stay out of your f'ing way to recover.
Make sure he shuts the door so that you don't have to listen to him. Tell him you don't want 'germs to spread.'

Dancingmummy · 03/11/2019 08:51

It's sheer luck if you get the low point of a cold on a Sunday. Let him enjoy his day.

Yeah, op. Continue to take care of everything and let your precious sausage enjoy his day of doing fuck all because he has the same cold you all had, poor delicate angel.

xsarax · 03/11/2019 08:52

Same in our house at the min OP , I’ve had the cold and carried on with work , jobs , cleaning etc , DP now has the same cold and is bedridden with “flu”

Original poster
WhenYouCantRunYouCrawl · 03/11/2019 08:56

I wonder how the "man-flu" phenomenon starts. Is it inherent or a learned behaviour?

DS who is 7 is yet to have the cold, but when he does get ill he doesn't tend to notice and carries on regardless and ignores my pleas to wear something other than shorts and a t-shirt in the depths of winter . I will have to ask MIL is DH was the same when younger. For science.

OP posts:
slipperywhensparticus · 03/11/2019 08:58

I watched divorce court the other day a man said he had the flu and was forced to walk to Walmart to get himself some tylenol no one pulled him up on the fact that if you had the real flu you wouldn't be able to do that!...I need to be a judge in that courtroom on a day like that

ememem84 · 03/11/2019 09:04

Last time this happened I told dh to stay in bed and I shut the door. Brought him tea and water at regular intervals. Let him sleep. Kept kids out of the way etc.

It was part kindness. Part containment. Part forward thinking - if I got it I could then say that I’d let him rest and why couldn’t he give me that same courteous treatment - and part to limit my annoyance - no shuffling sniffing or sighing.

RandomMess · 03/11/2019 09:04

Sorry but I would be telling him to get a grip and get over himself that you have carried on all week feeling dreadful etc and he only has the same cold you have had which he made zero allowances for.

Nope not all men are like these and if he isn't sympathetic or helpful when you are ill why pander to him?

Original poster
WhenYouCantRunYouCrawl · 03/11/2019 09:10

ememem84 I like your style. Definitely going to try this when he gets ill before me.

OP posts:
JustAnotherPoster00 · 03/11/2019 09:12

I wonder how the "man-flu" phenomenon starts. Is it inherent or a learned behaviour?

This website makes me Grin

manflu.info/

diddl · 03/11/2019 09:17

Idk.

How much did you have to force yourself to do what you did, Op?

I know if you have kids at home you can't just go to bed, but I wouldn't have been doing housework & husband would have been shopping after work.

Original poster
WhenYouCantRunYouCrawl · 03/11/2019 09:17

*This website makes me grin

manflu.info/*

Oh my god, I'm dying...

"Once you're home it's important that you feel as comfortable as possible. Slip into your dressing gown, pop your feet up on the sofa and reach for the remote control. Your nominated female carer will feel helpless as you plunge deeper and deeper into misery. Counter her feeling of helplessness by keeping her occupied with small tasks, such as massaging your feet or using a sponge to lightly dampen your forehead."

OP posts:
JustAnotherPoster00 · 03/11/2019 09:20

Oh my god, I'm dying...

I couldnt breathe I was laughing so hard the first time I went through it

longtimelurkerhelen · 03/11/2019 09:22

You are aware that he didn't catch the cold from you don't you. He has caught the much worse danger to life virus from elsewhere.

This is what my DH says when I point out that I managed to carry on and not resort to the woe is me act when I had the same cold the week before.

OP I think you have to ask his mother so we can see if it's nature or nurture. for science Grin

CatUnderTheStairs · 03/11/2019 09:23

Yes I got the snapped ‘it’s not a cold it’s a virus’ yesterday. He feels worse than he’s ever felt .... fat pants and dressing gown of doom. Faint weak answers to whether he wants a lesion or not...

I have run out of patience and am considering putting him out of his misery.

On the up side though the cat is loving the lap.

CatUnderTheStairs · 03/11/2019 09:24

Lemsip not lesion....

But thinking about it...

JustAnotherPoster00 · 03/11/2019 09:27

This is what my DH says when I point out that I managed to carry on and not resort to the woe is me act when I had the same cold the week before.

from the aforementioned website

Frequently, following a period of Man Flu, the nominated female carer may also start to exhibit symptoms such as a runny nose and aching joints. This is, of course, the common cold and not Man Flu (obviously!). By far, the best way for her to deal with this is carry on with her normal day to day routine as if the cold wasn't there. After all, it's hardly Man Flu, is it?

Grin Grin

MissMarpletheMurderer · 03/11/2019 09:27

Shuffle of sadness Grin that did make me giggle, I will never forget that