Umm, on the worst days, I just turn the TV on. Soon enough (I'm starting to feel better), I'll turn it off and we'll go out and do stuff again. I also print them coloring sheets a lot (3 per day per kid) and they like to color. Legos hold their attention for a good while, maybe an hour or more. I have snacks around they can get themselves. I tend to have healthy, homemade cake and ice cream around a lot. (Cake = almond flour, sucanat, lots of eggs, no frosting.) They like this and will all sit and eat and be quiet. I also buy things like string cheese (whole milk, rBST-free) and lots of fresh fruit, more than I normally would. My 4-year-old is capable of using a butter knife to cut things for the boys and herself. Sometimes I send them outside to our fenced backyard. I also let them get out their plastic noise-making toys, which I hate...but it especially keeps the baby entertained. I let them mess up the playroom more than usual and don't always make them clean it. I let them raid the basement for "new" (read: put away) toys. My husband hates that I do these things...but I call it survival.
I think it's normally for them to fight and be mouthy when you're down for the count. On days I feel really good and I get up, turn the TV off, and get involved with them, their attitudes are totally different than when I'm lying on the couch (usually, for me, from fatigue rather than illness).
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