Did anyone else like the attention of being ill / hurt when they were a child ?

[wonderfulwonderer]

I was pondering about life today. I was feeling quite unwell recently which made me remember when I was a child, quite enjoying all the fuss that came with being unwell or injured. Did anyone else have that ?


I really loved and craved that attention. I would say sometimes I would be a bit clumsy on purpose even...

Anyone ?

[wonderfulwonderer]

@Clockwatching54321

Yes I was like this but not so much as an adult. I think it stems from coming from a large family and attention at times was stretched thin. However then you got sick or ill you got extra attention from family. If it was a broken bone in a cast even more attention from people outside the home.

i never broke a bone but remember being jealous of a boy who did (which seems bonkers now).

I was always jealous too ! And another poster said that too. It must be quite common.

[moggerhanger]

Yes. Didn't get much warmth from my mum when I was well, so when I wasn't well I enjoyed the love and fuss. Knowing that it wouldn't last.

Now I pull myself up and crack on.

[ChagSameachDoreen]

No but I LOVED being looked after by the midwife after having DD.

[MarmiteCoriander]

Absolutely not. Any attention I got, was overtaken by pain- so I hated being ill. Until I had a grommet age 4, I would get ear infections every 6 weeks. It was agony! I just wanted the drumming in my ear to stop- so I certainly never enjoyed it!

[Fingernails4Cash]

This thread needs this SNL skit:

(With apologies for the previous poster who actually did break her arm and then actually did become disabled by an injury later in life, I really hope you don't think I'm making light of your situation, but this skit always makes me think of 'that girl who broke her arm' in school and it makes me laugh so I hope you can enjoy it on that level too)

[coldcaff]

I do have fond memories of being looked after when I was poorly. If it was a tummy bug my Mum always got me lucozade- even now if I'm sick I crave it! I remember lazing on the sofa under my duvet watching daytime TV like supermarket sweep and bewitched.

[HighlandPony]

Nooo. I actually hated it. Hated the fact I couldn’t go out to play and hated the fuss. I only ever pretended to be ill to get out of school

[NCHammer2022]

Yes. For me it was mainly about getting a lot more attention than my siblings for that short period of time.

[DancingBudgie]

My mum was very much if the ' if you can walk and talk then you can go to school ' camp.
I was the same with my kids.
My DH had a cold recently, my sympathy extended to ' oh stop bloody whining FFS! '

[RocketPanda]

I was quite ill as a child ( turned out I needed part of my bowel removed) and always had a flurry of specialists and doctors around me which has made me quite stoic about illness. I had cancer last year and kind of just got on with things in between appointments. The sympathy makes me uncomfortable and skin crawly so I asked everyone to please ignore the fact that I was unwell. I was aware, they were aware so there was no need to discuss it.
If my kids are ill they have a sort of exasperation at the inconvenience of it. They do the whole couple of bed days and be right as rain. They are all teens and young adults though with busy lives.

[Overthebow]

Yes, being unwell was the only time people were nice to me so I was often ‘unwell’, to the point school picked up on it and I had to go for tests.

[Kanaloa]

I don’t think it’s abnormal, certainly don’t think it’s as OTT as munchausen. I think it’s natural as a child to want attention from parents. I know loads of kids who’ll cause a huge fuss over the tiniest of tiny injuries because it feels nice to have a fuss and an ice pack or a plaster.

Being sick as a child is also often associated with being at home alone with mum, treat foods like ice cream for a sore throat or lucozade, lazing around watching telly. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about, as long as you’re not still doing it now!

[Picklypickles]

No I hated it, I was sick a lot in my early years with tonsillitis/glue ear etc and my mother would force me to take loads of vitamins and drink hot orange squash with honey in it every bloody night - I HATE honey! I was in and out of hospital and GP surgeries all the time and nurses were very bossy on the childrens ward back in the 80s!!

[NeverDropYourMooncup]

Sick days are totally wasted on the ill. Because you can't take them until you're too ill to enjoy it.


Things were better when I was ill as a kid compared to normal days in that I was generally left alone to lay on the sofa in front of the TV, whether I watched it or not. But injuries weren't a source of anything other than perfunctory first aid; I learned to deal with those by myself so I didn't get restricted by having to stay at home.

I guess that shows I didn't get attention/fuss/a feeling of being loved from being ill or hurt, though, whereas others did.

[LadyFromage]

I quite enjoyed little illnesses when I was very young and remember faking a couple just to bring some interest to the day.

I then had to have quite a serious operation when I was about 12 and hated the attention from that. It was quite stressful for everyone. I remember seeing my grandma cry for the first time when visiting me and my younger brother wrecked his room after seeing me in hospital because he felt so bad at my being ill.

It kinda changed me and now would I much rather curl up all on my own until I feel better. I hate people fussing me when I'm ill.

[5128gap]

Yes. Loved a bit of low level illness. Normal business suspended, no school, lie on the sofa, books and TV, nice food to 'tempt me'.
Strangely as an adult I'm the exact opposite. Can't stand the restriction of it.
Its no coincidence that I was an unhappy child, hated school and didn't always feel i mattered at home, and I'm now a happy confident adult that enjoys life and doesn't want to miss a thing.

[caringcarer]

When I was five, almost six o was rushed to hospital with stomach pains that turned out to be appendix. It was taken out but in those days that meant about 10 days in hospital. Then two weeks off school at home. Whilst in hospital I had visitors everyday who brought me these bracelet making kits, or necklace kits. By the time I left hospital I was addicted to these little jewelry kits. My Mum says at home for 2 weeks I asked for one every day and if I did not get it I cried my tummy was hurting. My 2 Aunties, who did not have children of their own, took turns buying me the kits, comics, sweets and reading me endless stories too. If Mum ever brought it up once I was an adult I pretended not to remember. I do remember though.

[KILM]

I know a couple of people who learnt the way to get attention off their parents was via sickness and it continues into their adult life.
One has a sibling who was extremely ill as a child. Sibling is fully recovered but this person constantly and i mean constantly has a gripe going on. Stomach ache, headache, sore back. If you've hurt your back, theirs is playing up. If you arent hungry, they've got a stomachache. If you broke your ankle, they'd have sprained theirs. Its as normal to them as 'do you want a cup of tea?'

[Kanaloa]

@caringcarer

When I was five, almost six o was rushed to hospital with stomach pains that turned out to be appendix. It was taken out but in those days that meant about 10 days in hospital. Then two weeks off school at home. Whilst in hospital I had visitors everyday who brought me these bracelet making kits, or necklace kits. By the time I left hospital I was addicted to these little jewelry kits. My Mum says at home for 2 weeks I asked for one every day and if I did not get it I cried my tummy was hurting. My 2 Aunties, who did not have children of their own, took turns buying me the kits, comics, sweets and reading me endless stories too. If Mum ever brought it up once I was an adult I pretended not to remember. I do remember though.

😂

I love this, it’s like something my youngest would do. Can just imagine her lying on the couch crying ‘my stomach kills, I need a bracelet kit!’ Also love that you pretend not to remember it!

[XenoBitch]

No, I always tried to hide being ill. I hated the fuss.
I am the same as an adult. Although funnily enough, I have a diagnosis of PD and get written off as an attention seeker when I do seek help. Can't win!

[NameChangedForThis12398]

My teen says he enjoyed the 2 operations he had as he got so much attention from family, friends, hospital staff etc. Makes me feel awful like he thinks I didn't give him enough attention as a child.

[MimosaSunrise]

Very prone to bad colds as a child, and I used to love lying on the settee and my mum coming back from the shops with lucozade and a magazine. Not to mention getting to watch neighbours at lunchtime knowing that everyone else was at school. I liked it so much that despite great guilt, I found it quite hard to be truthful once I felt better. If I was ill on a Wednesday the chances I’d be back in school that week were slim.

Lucozade is horrible now, it’s generally impossible or too stress-inducing to have an unexpected day off work and I hate watching tv in the daytime.

[MsBucket]

For me, it’s quite the opposite. I enjoy taking care of others when they’re sick or unwell, and I like sending care packages or flowers etc. just to brighten someone’s day, but if I feel sick or under the weather, I just try to avoid human company. I prefer to take care of myself, just knowing someone has asked is enough, but to be taken care of, I’d rather just get on with it unless I’m really unwell and can’t get out of bed… But even then, I know when I should be sleeping in complete darkness, when I need to eat or take painkillers or antibiotics etc. so it doesn’t make sense for me to rely on others.

[Sunnyqueen]

I did with my nan because Id get the full nanny treatment lol. Lots of tea and sympathy.

Fairly sure to be anything close to munchausen you would have to actually make yourself poorly or go out of your way to seriously fake it (I don't just mean trying it on for a day off school, pretty sure we all did that)

[wonderfulwonderer]

@caringcarer

When I was five, almost six o was rushed to hospital with stomach pains that turned out to be appendix. It was taken out but in those days that meant about 10 days in hospital. Then two weeks off school at home. Whilst in hospital I had visitors everyday who brought me these bracelet making kits, or necklace kits. By the time I left hospital I was addicted to these little jewelry kits. My Mum says at home for 2 weeks I asked for one every day and if I did not get it I cried my tummy was hurting. My 2 Aunties, who did not have children of their own, took turns buying me the kits, comics, sweets and reading me endless stories too. If Mum ever brought it up once I was an adult I pretended not to remember. I do remember though.

This is brilliant. Especially that you pretend like you don't remember.