Kids: Sick Day Tray

I’m sick. Usually, I can nip a cold in the bud by taking some NyQuil to knock myself out and get a good night’s sleep. But that didn’t do the trick this time. Nuts.

Thank goodness I can work in my pajamas! I promised myself that if I put in a few solid hours of work, I can have some hot tea and watch Sherlock before the kids get home. (I’ve only watched the first episode from this season, so don’t tell me what happens! Although I’ve heard rumors that someone might not actually be dead. Like we didn’t see that coming! You can’t kill off an arch-nemesis. If he gets killed off, then he’s just, like, a starter-nemesis or an arch-enemy-in-training or something.)

Sorry…where was I? Oh, right. Sick days.

I remember the day we started the Sick Day Tray tradition. Andrew was 11 months old and had his first cold. I filled a muffin tin with some jello and watermelon to soothe his sore throat, plus buttered cinnamon-sugar toast triangles like my mom always gave me when I was sick. We settled in to watch his very first movie, Mary Poppins. And the poor little man felt sick enough to actually sit still through the entire thing.

Over the years we’ve added in different treats: orange juice, 7-Up, pasta in fun shapes, fresh crayons, even a stuffed animal or toy from the gift bin.

Our sick day trays were pretty basic before Pinterest came along! I’ve had to up my game with a “Get Well Soon” pennant glued to a striped straw and colorful silicone muffin cups. Oh well, it looks pretty festive, doesn’t it?

(By the way, if your kids are really sick, you might want to look into making a Love Bucket.)

So tell me: What would a Sick Day Tray for you or your loved one have to include?