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I recently saw a meme that said, “My husband and I both have colds. I keep living my life, but we may have to call his family, so they can say goodbye.”
When my friend Karen’s husband had a cold, he turned to her and asked, “do you think I will ever get well?”
“Yes,” she said, “I’m fairly confident you will.”
What’s going on here? Big, strapping guys, who can change a tire, chop wood and kill spiders, fall apart when they have a muscle cramp or upset tummy.
A few years ago, Huffington Post Blogger Diedre A. Ware wrote a story titled, “Men Reverting to Babies When Sick has Become A Global Crisis.” While she doesn’t prove the issue is on par with climate change, she does quote numerous women whose husbands fall apart at the first sign of a runny nose.
One of her sources tells how her CEO husband, who was recovering from minor surgery, looked at her pitifully and asked her to turn the TV channel even though the remote control was sitting next to him.
And, no, he did not have hand surgery, the surgery was for a stubbed toe.
While it may be true that men simply revert to childhood and want “mommy” when they’re sick; it turns out there may also be some science on their side
According to an article in Time Magazine a few months ago, a new study on mice suggests that the male sex really does get hit harder by certain illnesses—and that physiology, not psychology, may be at least partially to blame.
The study indicates that adult male mice displayed more symptoms of sickness for longer periods than females when exposed to the same flu-like bacteria.
Although the research is by no means conclusive, it does give some credence to the moaning, whining and helplessness that comes with a man-cold. I think we can all be a little more tolerant in those instances.
But paper cuts, toothaches and Charlie horses? They’re on their own.
What happens when your man gets sick? Please use the comments to tell your story.
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