The Battle of the Flu has been consuming me this week, wiping my energy levels and turning my response levels to either ‘grumpy’ or ‘zombie’. Sickness rarely brings out the best in us, and my parenting hasn’t exactly been award-worthy recently.

There has been more TV, less patience, more sighs, less fun. As the tissues mount up, the days seem to stretch out impossibly and just getting to the end can feel like a feat in itself. It hasn’t helped that the Christmas bug suddenly seemed to bite towards the end of October, filling my head with all the burgeoning tasks that accompany the holiday season.

Thankfully, all of the kids have become obsessed with new Australian cartoon animation series, Bluey and the catchy dance at the start seems to magically reorient all of our moods. Usually I use show time to catch up on vacuuming or my ‘to-do’ list, but lately I have found myself gravitating towards the playroom to watch Bingo and Bluey’s antics instead.

I’m not sure if it is the humour, the imaginative role-playing, the witty dialogue or the Blue Heeler parents (Bandit and Chilli) who are always up for some fun… It is so refreshing to see a show where both parents are engaged with their kids, sharing the domestic and work load and seeing the lighter side of life. I know, I know, it’s just a cartoon, but so was The Simpsons.

From the whole family (and then neighbourhood) game of Keepy Uppy, to the vital lesson that boring things are important too in The Pool, taking the easy way out in Daddy Robot – each episode seems to provide a gold mine for perfect lines to repeat to the kids later on.

And, even though Dave and I are no where near as fun-loving as Bandit and Chilli, the visual reminder of how important it is to enjoy your kids has been worthwhile.

If you haven’t seen the show, check it out on ABC iview, and I promise this isn’t sponsored. You can see how little I’ve left the house in the past week!

What do you do to manage life and the kids when you are sick? Hit me with your tips! I need them.