I am THE WORST nursemaid

[juneau]

DS1 has chickenpox and poor little kid, he also has me for a mother. He's got a fairly nasty case, I think, spots all over his body - in his ears, mouth, all around his nose, bottom, etc, and I am not coping very well. I give him Calpol for the pain (the fever has gone), and I'm applying calamine liberally, but apart from that there's a certain amount of just bearing it and needing to be distracted and I'm finding his constant screaming really wearing.

In addition, I have a 6-month-old baby who is feeling ignored, so is being very demanding himself. And my DH is away on business for the entire week in India, so it's not like he can rush home. We've been quarantined since Monday and I'm climbing the walls. Shouted at DS1 at lunchtime and feeling rather ashamed of myself.

I'm a horrible nursemaid at the best of times (whenever anyone is ill near me I feel this almost uncontrollable urge to run out the door - my mother admits she feels exactly the same), and an absent husband and two sick kids (the baby is teething and has a stinking cold), is not the best of times

it sounds to me you are doing everything you can for your children and even though your 6mnth old may feel ignored he id not neglected he will be ok and you are doing the best that you can. we all shout from time to time in stressful difficult times so try not to feel to bad you are only human. you say you feel like running away but you havent you know what to do and you are doing it you are defo not the worst nurse maid, you are doing it very well it seems to me from what you have said. it wont last forever even though it feels that way and i totally understand and empathise as having children of my own i know how hard it is when they are ill especially when you only have yourself to deal with it all. when your husband comes back you will hopefully be able to have some you time :0) everyone in your situation would feel frustrated take some deep breaths you are doing the best you can and both your children will be ok until normality comes back :0)

Thanks cavegirl. This afternoon has been a lot better (the morning was utterly hideous). DS2 has taken a long nap and DS1 and I played games on the CBeebies website, which stopped him thinking about his spots for ages!

Feel very sorry for you, there is nothing worse than constant sick toddler whinging, soooo exhausting! Hope baby DS doesnt catch it too, though there is a fair chance he will.. omg!

Yes, sneezecakes, he probably will

Looking on the bright side, it will get it all over and done with and I won't have to worry about chicken pox any more, but I'm dreading the baby coming down with it. Four-year-old I can tell not to pick his spots and we can read, play games, etc to distract him. But a baby? It will be horrible, I'm sure.

If you can get out to Boots, Poxclin is magical stuff and will stop the scratching. Can you take him out for a walk? He won't infect anyone by the beach, in a field.

Sending you huge sympathies - you're not being horrible at all!

your welcome :0) see you fabalous! you have coped and still managed to find the energy to to spend time playing games well done :0)

I can't really take him out for a walk because we live in a city. We have a park nearby, but it's always full of kids, dog walkers, joggers, etc, and DS would want to go to the playground if we went there. Plus, he's got spots all over his body, including his face, so it's very obvious and he's too old to be strapped into a pushchair. I'll look into the PoxClin. My mother is coming down tomorrow so I should be able to go out shopping for the first time since Monday!

Thanks cavegirl. I wasn't fabulous this morning - I was a grumpy old cow - but I really tried to make it up to him this afternoon. It helped that he wasn't whining any more. Poor little kid though - he's absolutely covered in chicken pox. It's in his mouth, his ears, every part of his body. It's a fing horrible illness and I tried so hard to protect him from it by getting him vaccinated and he STILL got it! I'm so pssed off.