I know the jokes about “man flu” are everywhere. Acts like he’s dying from a cold. That’s me.
And there’s something going on underneath that most women never see.
When a man is sick, he can’t do what makes him feel like a man. He can’t work, he can’t protect you, he can’t fix things around the house and he can’t take care of the kids. He’s useless, and that’s his, my deepest fear: that he isn’t good enough.
So the groaning isn’t only about the cold. It’s a man who suddenly feels like a burden and doesn’t know what to do with that feeling.
This is the moment you can win his heart forever, or make him feel smaller than he already does.
The man-flu jokes make him feel smaller. So does the eye rolling, and the “you’re fine, get up.”
What wins his heart is taking care of him without making him feel weak. Bring him soup. Rub his back. Tell him, “You take care of us every day. Let me take care of you today.”
When I’m sick, my wife does exactly this. She doesn’t make me feel pathetic. She makes me feel like a man who has earned some rest.
I’ve never felt more loved by her than in those moments.
Care for him like he matters.
