Ideal Sick Day
By the lovely Grace Farris. P.S. Friday night plans and notes to you.… Read more The post Ideal Sick Day appeared first on Cup of Jo.
![Ideal Sick Day](https://cupofjo.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/image00001-scaled.jpeg)
More to Love
When my husband and I took our daughters to visit family in Puerto Rico...
116 COMMENTS
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
November 15, 2024 5:33 pm
Nailed it!
November 15, 2024 3:32 pm
But how about some podcasts that are not explicit besides Kenji and Deb (which I love)? I only listen to This American Life and Radio Lab…there must be others out there?
Reply to JPG
November 15, 2024 4:42 pm
Search Engine is great–thoughtful storytelling on a range of subjects!
Reply to JPG
November 15, 2024 5:21 pm
Hi JPG! I really enjoy Planet Money and Inside Trader Joe’s.
Reply to JPG
November 15, 2024 5:47 pm
Stuff You Should Know!! Or Judge John Hodgman! Both family favorites around here.
November 15, 2024 2:26 pm
This could also be titled: recipe for a “Bed Seven” a la Molly Shannon. Been aspiring to these of late.
November 15, 2024 2:11 pm
Our family has been out since last Tuesday – mainly from pneumonia. I’m starting to think my immune system can’t fight germs and rising facism at the same time. This cartoon is the ideal (which is unattainable with kids but, at least we can get parts here and there… tissues mostly)
November 15, 2024 1:48 pm
I have dedicated sick day reading material: Terry Pratchett’s discworld books. I’ve already read them all, but they’re so complex that I’ve usually forgotten the finer points by the time I go back to one of them. Plus they’re laugh-out-loud funny!!
I also have a policy that you can only watch funny movies when you’re sick. Nothing sad or depressing!! So: Airplane, Blazing Saddles, Princess Bride, etc!
Last tip: NEWS FAST. It’ll still be there once you get better!
Reply to Suz
November 15, 2024 5:05 pm
I always read Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s Stone as my sick day(s) material. Normally I’m starting to feel better by the time I finish!
November 15, 2024 1:45 pm
Do you guys have a recommendation for light hearted podcast? I am going through a very difficult time and I need something that can take my mind off of things. (I really want to stay off of IG.)
Thank you from this sleep deprived and financially struggling mom of two who just returned to work from my maternity leave.
Reply to CCR
November 15, 2024 1:59 pm
“So True with Caleb Hearon” is great. He’s a comedian who brings on a different guest every week. Funny conversations that are also often sweet and thoughtful.
“Celebrity Book Club” with Lily and Steven is also so funny. They read and dissect a celebrity memoir every week.
Sending love! Xoxoxo
Reply to CCR
November 15, 2024 2:00 pm
Normal Gossip!! I’ve been convincing everyone I know to listen to it. They’re all amazing, but the first episode I ever heard was “Ready to be Bunco-fied” and I do think that’s a great one to start on. I also love the podcast The Recipe with Kenji and Deb.
Reply to CCR
November 15, 2024 2:01 pm
The Handsome Podcast! Doesn’t get any better! Pure joy.
Reply to CCR
November 15, 2024 2:09 pm
Handsome always makes me laugh out loud!
Reply to CCR
November 15, 2024 2:09 pm
How did this get made – hilarious!
Reply to CCR
November 15, 2024 2:15 pm
Let’s Go to Court! was my maternity leave listen. Kristen and Brandi got me through some very lonely-feeling days. The podcast has finished now but has a hundreds-of-episodes-long archive to get through.
I’ve also found ClutterBug really motivating and comforting. The host is a professional declutterer and organiser and I find listening whilst I’m doing the boring but busy work of putting the house back together so friendly and comforting.
For falling asleep I love free audiobooks through the Libby app, connected to our local library.
Reply to CCR
November 15, 2024 2:23 pm
Handsome! I have given up all other podcasts but adore this one.
Reply to CCR
November 15, 2024 3:03 pm
Spilled Milk! Listening to this is like hanging with your funny besties! Love Molly & Matthew :)
Reply to CCR
November 15, 2024 3:32 pm
Who? Weekly! I cannot removed it highly enough.
Reply to CCR
November 15, 2024 3:37 pm
Handsome pod! I switched from self help podcasts to Handsome because I needed something lighter. It’s all I listen to now!
Reply to CCR
November 15, 2024 4:05 pm
Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware. So cozy and British.
Reply to CCR
November 15, 2024 4:09 pm
If you liked new girl “we’re here to help” is ridiculous and the best
Reply to CCR
November 15, 2024 4:31 pm
This Is Love!
Reply to CCR
November 15, 2024 5:29 pm
Daaang I did not realize the CoJ crowd was so into keeping it handsome! Love it. I have also turned to Handsome in lieu of self help/learning things pods.
Reply to CCR
November 15, 2024 7:34 pm
Stories from the Village of Nothing Much – a cozy, conflict-free fiction podcast. The host also has a podcast called Nothing Much Happens, which is similar but meant to help you fall asleep. As a new mom who also recently returned to work, these have helped put me in a better headspace on tough days and nights!
November 15, 2024 1:27 pm
optional furry friend for emotional support
November 15, 2024 1:26 pm
The day I can stick like this I’ll have arrived lol
November 15, 2024 12:47 pm
Welp, this is me. I never ever got sick, like, for decades, until I got covid and now I’ve been sick multiple times. So incredibly annoying. I’m home sick right now, surrounded by boxes of tissues and tea and have binged all the shows, until I am so exhausted I fall asleep in the middle of the day. It’s all I can do to make soup (but it is so delicious, that drives me to do it…). Ugh…all the ideals in that sketch are where I’m at now and I’ve just caught up on the new season of Bad Sisters, lol. Spot on. But true, commenter above: I lack only that special someone to care for me!
November 15, 2024 12:33 pm
Ha! Having a sick day today and this is very spot on 💗
November 15, 2024 12:18 pm
I foresee many “sick days” during this administration.
November 15, 2024 12:15 pm
Opening up CoJ today to this comic, and I feel SEEN. I tore my ACL playing soccer last weekend, and I’ve basically spent 99% of my time since then resting in bed, icing, elevating my leg. I have an appt next week with the orthopedic surgeon to discuss my options, but it is so emotionally draining to be looking ahead at 9-12 months of recovery, with significant losses to my mobility and independence in the meantime. I live alone and am self-conscious about asking my friends for too much help. (A ridiculous concern, since they have been nothing but supportive & I know would do anything they can for me.) If anybody else in the hivemind has been through this, please send your words of wisdom, limited mobility-adjusted life hacks, and comfort TV show recs. <3
November 15, 2024 12:29 pm
So sorry Mary! How distressing. Please please lean on your friends. That’s what they’re here for! But also, do yourself a favor and watch the US version of Ghosts. It’s so silly and simple, but for whatever reason it just hits the spot when you need to be comforted. I ended up with the flu last week and it absolutely got me through a night of feverish tossing and turning and now I can’t stop watching it.
November 15, 2024 12:41 pm
Oh Mary I’m sorry. My daughter tore hers in September. It is a long road. If it helps though she was walking on it with a brace within a week of tearing it. She was down again for about 3 days after surgery and is now walking around just fine. She can’t play soccer or anything for a long time yet but it is helping her to be mobile at least. You’ve got this! And I’m sure your friends will be delighted to help. I always feel like I’ve leveled up in friendship when someone reaches out with a request❤️. Sending love and healing your way. Feel free to reach out with any specific questions.
November 15, 2024 1:34 pm
Sorry to hear this! My daughter is about to have an MPFL replacement on her right knee bc of multiple dislocations. She had the surgery last year on her left knee so we know the painful and long recovery! She got by with loads of books, streaming shows and doting by parents. It’s lonely to recover alone so please do reach out to friends and do the things that bring you comfort!
November 15, 2024 3:36 pm
Oof, that’s rough. I’ve had my ACL reconstructed twice, both times using my own tendons as replacements. There are lots of options and procedures with different recovery systems. A standard replacement without PT beforehand and basic drug protocols left me OUT on opioids for almost a week. Plan to have friends help change your ice machine and maybe a meal train. Some crock pot ready stuff in the freezer will help the first few weeks when cooking on crutches blows. Also, make a written meds schedule for when you’re too loopy to remember what you’ve taken when. After a week your crutches mobile but tired and sore, and PT is surprisingly exhausting. Be gentle with yourself! I rewatched all of Crazy ExGirlfriend and Gilmore Girls over those weeks and had friends and family come for lunch dates since I had the most energy in the middle of the day, which helped a lot.
November 15, 2024 4:11 pm
I have a saying that helps me
“What you practise, you permit”
If you ask for help, you permit others to ask for help. If you rough it alone, you permit others to rough it alone. Pick one.
November 15, 2024 4:15 pm
I’ve had several knee surgeries and also live alone. These are my tips: use a backpack to carry things around the house while you’re on crutches, get groceries delivered, when you have surgery get it where your family lives or have someone come stay with you, stay ahead of the post-op pain by setting alarms when you’ll be due for your next dose even if it will be the middle of the night, use the ice machine, do all of the rehab they suggest, if you have pets ask someone else to watch them for the first week and then get a walker to take them on walks, boxer shorts, make sure you have every possible medication you might need before you have surgery, don’t trust the surgeons estimation of pain because they always understate. Depending on the surgery you may be able to bear weight within days of surgery or you might be fully off your leg for 6 weeks, but listen to the time table. Wear the brace until they say you can stop. Do not underestimate how helpful PT will be in getting your range of motion back, improving strength and lessening pain. Good luck!
November 15, 2024 12:07 pm
“The barrister will arrive at noon” was definitely read in Lord Grantham’s voice lol.
Reply to Kim
November 15, 2024 4:40 pm
Followed by “What is a week end?” a la Maggie Smith, haha.
November 15, 2024 12:01 pm
Yes! Only a little sick…
November 15, 2024 11:39 am
The only thing missing is a cat on the bed.
November 15, 2024 11:38 am
Haha you’re just missing that you have to be the right level of sick- enough to clearly need to be in bed but not enough to not enjoy it. And also you’re missing someone to take care of you!
November 15, 2024 11:36 am
Take out the medicine and tissues and the title could be “Ideal Every-Day Anatomy.”
November 15, 2024 11:35 am
Oh how I miss sick days before kids. Sick days now are just doing the same stuff I always need to do, but while sick. Ha.
Reply to Liz
November 15, 2024 12:47 pm
Yup. Says a mom of two trying to recover from a cold.
Reply to Liz
November 15, 2024 1:14 pm
My exact thoughts 😀🥲
Reply to Liz
November 15, 2024 1:39 pm
Oh Liz I was going to comment the same thing. I truly miss this now that I have kids
Reply to Liz
November 15, 2024 1:45 pm
Yup currently trying to parent a 1 year old while sick. It does not look like this cartoon :(
Reply to Liz
November 15, 2024 2:41 pm
Last Thanksgiving I was sick with a fever and had to send my husband and two kids to my parents house and miss out on all the fun, which was a huge bummer. But let me tell you, that sick day without two children was it’s own kind of vacation! I watched more TV in one day than I do all year, haha!
Reply to Liz
November 15, 2024 3:35 pm
I feel so this. We have a 9 week old so we are still waking up every 3 hours overnight. As soon as my husband went back to work 2 weeks ago, my 3 y/o was out of daycare for being sick while I was also sick! Now my infant is sick and my husband is starting to feel the malaise. Dark times indeed.
Reply to Liz
November 15, 2024 3:49 pm
Omg solidarity – I’m sick right now, and I have an almost two year old and an eleven week old l! I had a literal lol earlier this week thinking about what sick days used to look like. There are so many parenting things people warned us about that we haven’t found hard at all, but being sick while parenting young kids is no joke!!