A couple of weeks ago I had a really rough bout of the stomach flu. For just over 24 hours, all I could do was sleep, toss my cookies, or writhe around in bed with horrible stomach pains and moan. I am not exaggerating. And it took me the better part of a week once that part was over to really feel 100% back to my old self.
In that time, I had to get through a few (mercifully short-lived) times when I was alone with my kids and feeling ill or exhausted. Enter the invention of lying. down. games.
Through my delirious haze, I somehow managed to convince my kids that it would be really fun to pretend Mommy was a sleeping dragon under the blanket on the couch, and they had to tiptoe around the dragon's cave. If they were too noisy, the dragon would wake up and make them run laps from the living room to the kitchen. (In previous, more energetic iterations of the this game, the Mommydragon would tickle them as punishment for their noisiness, but this time the Mommydragon didn't even have the strength for that.)
Shockingly, they ate it up. Lilah is still asking to play this game, and my inner Mommydragon is only too happy to oblige. I'm sure it won't be much longer before she figures out how little effort it requires on my part. But hey, as long as they're safe and having fun, it passes as parenting, right?
Have you invented any good lying down games I can add to my repertoire for the next time I find myself solo parenting through illness?
Best game ever. I'm going to have to try this. Hope you are feeling better.
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