Women are the Weaker Sex… and other Fairy Tales

Posted on | April 5, 2010 | 17 Comments

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As most of you know, J was sick all of last week. He took a turn for the better around Wednesday and on Thursday, I took a turn for the worse. I was pretty sick on Friday but still went to work and came home and took care of J because, well, those are my jobs. I stayed sick on Saturday and Sunday but there’s really no rest for Moms so I kept on going. (Except that my in-laws came on Saturday and …. oh Glory! Gave me the opportunity to actually read a book that didn’t have pictures!)

You moms know what I mean. When we get sick, nobody cares. It’s just a fact of life. No matter how much we whine, no one is going to drop everything and bring us soup and orange juice because, well, we don’t live with our moms anymore. Husband is fairly sympathetic when I’m sick. I say fairly because he does allow me to whine about it and doesn’t get too fed up. He will also, on occasion, go and get me soup. What he doesn’t do is take care of J so I can get sleep. He “can’t” do that. He also has a tendency to minimize any illness I have by saying things like “You’re STILL sick?” or “didn’t you just take some Tylenol?” (as though Tylenol should magically make me feel INSTANTLY better.)

But dear God how the tables turn when he gets the same illness.

The world must surely be ending because Husband is sick. He can’t move. He can’t breathe. His throat hurts. His head hurts. And oh God, he MUST call in sick to work because how could ANYONE function like this?

It’s ridiculous. When we were first married, I thought “man, Husband gets hit harder with illness than I do.” But now I realize, he is just a big old baby in the face of germs. Where I have to get up and function as usual because he seems to think I’m impervious to illness, when he gets the same thing, it’s suddenly the worst case of disease since the Black Plague. Seriously… it’s a wonder he’s still alive.

The whole time I was sick this weekend he made snide comments to me about still being sick and that I was making excuses for not wanting to ::ah hem:: with him. I kept trying to get him not to kiss me because I didn’t want him to get sick. Cue last night about five. Here’s a brief transcript:

H: “Man. My throat hurts.”
me: “ouch. You’re probably getting what I have.”
… a few seconds later…
H: “My throat really hurts.”
Me: “Go take something.”
… a few seconds later…
H: (making gagging sounds) “It’s really hurting bad.”
Me: (nothing)
H: (Turns around and looks at me) “Did you hear me?”
Me: “Yes”
H: “Gee, thanks for caring.”

What does he want me to do? Jump up and massage the back of his neck while cooing “poor baby. poor baby”? Because sorry, that’s not my style. I will never understand why it is that men can not handle being sick. It’s ridiculous. Why can I get up, get J ready for school, fix breakfast, make Husband coffee, feed the dog, and get myself ready for work and then GO to work, come home, make dinner, care for the baby and then go to bed only to get up seven times with the same baby…. and Husband can barely get out of bed. Same illness, different people. Not possible that it is that much worse in male form. He is RIDICULOUS.

Men are most certainly NOT the stronger sex. If they were, I wouldn’t be having this conversation with myself. It is clear to me that Women are the stronger sex. We handle illness (usually) with grace and dignity… or at least with minimal disruption to our lives. We (sometimes) work outside and inside the home.We bleed once a month for approximately 432 months of our lives. And oh yeah, we also grow and birth PEOPLE. Men are the stronger sex?

Don’t make me laugh.

Category: husbands, men, sick, women rock

Comments

17 Responses to “Women are the Weaker Sex… and other Fairy Tales”

Ashley Garrett
April 5th, 2010 @ 1:43 pm

Soo true!
It's funny you wrote that. I'm newly married.. A year next month and I have been thinking the same thing. Idk if it's how I was raised but I don't call in sick unless I'm deathly ill and then hubby catches what I have and he has to call in and be waited on hand and foot and I ALWAYS thought he must be weak and get sicker than I get. But now I know women are the stronger sex. Thanks for letting me in on this:)
-Ashley
KLZ
April 5th, 2010 @ 2:03 pm

If I hadn't seen his picture, I'd be wondering if we were married to the same man.

Because he's "so tired" from being jostled in be when I get up several times a night to care for the baby. Man, it's rough to be him.
disastersindomesticity
April 5th, 2010 @ 2:04 pm

Couldn't agree more!
~K~
April 5th, 2010 @ 2:26 pm

I came across your blog this weekend on one of the top mom blog sites, and LOVE it. I have to say that this is so true in households all across the world. I'm determined to NOT allow my boys to grow into whiney, baby men. My son gets sick and I say "Suck it up and deal with it". OK, not really, but I figure that somewhere along the way, our mother in laws must have babies our husbands when they were sick. I will not have my future daughter in laws having to deal with the same craziness that we have had to deal with. Suck it up boys!
Deb
April 5th, 2010 @ 2:39 pm

Amen sistah! I thought that only happened at my house. So good to know there are others with the same problem. I've been dealing with it for 19 years~~~I'm SO over it!
Carol
April 5th, 2010 @ 2:44 pm

Here, Here!
Blair@HeirtoBlair
April 5th, 2010 @ 3:11 pm

A-FREAKIN-MEN.

I don't get to be sick. At all. I have to be a mom, go to work, run my "business," take care of the dog, house, bills, etc. I DON'T GET TO BE SICK. If I call out sick? I'm expected to keep Harrison with me that day because HOW CRUEL WOULD IT BE TO MISS ONE MOMENT WITH HIM?! & since I'm actually home that day, I might as well do a few loads of laundry & the dishes because BY GOD, that time can't be wasted even when I'm running a fever with snot dripping out of my nose.

When Nate's sick? His entire world shuts down. He takes the entire day off. Harry goes to daycare. I come home & the house is even messier.

It's injustice.
Eliza
April 5th, 2010 @ 3:30 pm

Woman are amazing. That's it. Really and truly. We handle it all!
Rebekah @ Mom-In-A-Million
April 5th, 2010 @ 8:17 pm

Why are these wimpy creature in charge when the merest sniffle brings them to their knees?
Melissa
April 6th, 2010 @ 1:33 am

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Thank You!!
carrie
April 6th, 2010 @ 2:38 am

part of me feels better knowing that my husband isn't the only baby. the rest of me is discouraged and hopeless because now i have to face the fact that after i've put ten years of work into him, in another 30 years he'll probably still be the same. they're all wired that way.
crap.
Melodramommy
April 6th, 2010 @ 3:01 am

I feel your pain. We've been sick a lot lately and it does take a huge toll on us mommies. I hope you're feeling better and so glad your inlaws were there to help give you a little time off. I think we're all going through the same things. I love the blog world cause it's instant validation that we are not alone.
Cara Mamma
April 6th, 2010 @ 3:02 am

You are so right! I felt bad for my now husband the first few times…until he stayed home from work because he had a headache! Seriously? What if we stopped functioning if we had a teeny little cramp?
love your blog…am now a fb follower!
Mrs. Beer
April 6th, 2010 @ 3:13 am

Men are huge babies. Agreed. It's a good thing they don't wear diapers because we would be changing em. Now that I think of it, cleaning the bathroom after my husband's half-asleep pee sessions is probably worse. He got it on the wall over the weekend. The WALL!
Not There Yet
April 6th, 2010 @ 4:35 pm

So true! My DH is pretty good about helping to take care of me. But man, when he get a cold – watch out!
sunnipat
April 14th, 2010 @ 1:22 pm

It's so true about the "Are you STILL sick?" lol My hubby is not a complainer, but not very compassionate either when I get sick. Last time he actually made me soup, I almost fainted!
liz
April 17th, 2010 @ 3:28 pm

Hi! Just came over from Taming Insanity's blog. She said you were the best around, and I needed to check it out! I'm now a follower!

Liz

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Women are the Weaker Sex… and other Fairy Tales

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