TL;DR: Our household got Covid. I was not taken care of while sick and was still expected to watch my daughter and take care of responsibilities. My partner is now also sick and expects to be taken care of while I still watch our daughter and feed everyone. They want me to do chores even though I’m still sick. Is this fair? I just want a little more time to heal before I clean the house.
I got Covid 3 days ago and it literally felt like I was hit by a truck. I had terrible body aches, it was hard to breathe (still is), and my throat hurt. My partner was still working so I powered through how shitty I was feeling to take care of my three year old daughter. Once my partner was done with work, I put my daughter in her room for quiet time and passed out in bed. An hour later my partner wakes me up to get our daughter out of her room. I felt like absolute crap and immediately burst into tears. This annoyed my partner and they were like “just say you’re too sick to watch her, you don’t have to cry.” I kept trying to explain that I was crying because of how sick I felt. But I was also just confused why they would wake me up in the first place when they already knew I was really sick. I ended up going back to bed but feeling guilty about it since they were irritated about me crying and having to watch our daughter. I slept maybe three hours and then went back into mom-mode.
Over the next few days I’ve still been sick and our daughter got sick. I watched our daughter all day while she was sick, even when my partner was done with work. I’ve been barely getting sleep between drowning in my own snot and having to stay up with my daughter. I’ve been watching her, feeding her, feeding my partner, taking care of the pets, and trying my best to clean up. But since I’m still not feeling the best, I’m behind on the chores. I keep telling myself I’ll get to the chores when I’m feeling a bit better ‘cause everything is making me feel winded. Like I can’t even do the dishes without feeling like I’m gasping for breath.
My partner finally ended up sick today and of course, they’re in bed and plan to be all day. Which is fine with me, they’re sick… it’s just the imbalance that’s really bothering me. I didn’t get to rest when I was sick. I’ve been the caretaker for everyone, but nobody takes care of me. I’m trying not to let it get to my head but it makes me sad.
Last night I was up with my daughter until 4:00am. My partner (26m) wakes me up this morning saying they’re now sick and want me to pick up some stuff from the store for them. Since I still have Covid I placed a contactless pick up order at the grocery store. I come back home with their stuff, mind you I’m still sick and feeling like crap. I’m putting away groceries when they come downstairs wrapped up in a blanket to get their drink I got them. The first thing out of their mouth isn’t thank you, it’s “ummm are you going to take out the trash?” “Um, when are you going to vacuum?” It felt patronizing. I didn’t say anything but they could probably tell I was irritated.
I’m (26f) just confused what I could be doing differently here. Am I just supposed to power through and be super mom? Am I being a baby? Do I need to suck it up and just get all the chores done?
Context: my partner works from home. They usually work from 10:00-5:00. Most of the time they sleep in and start later than 10:00.