How does your family/cultural group handle sickness? I'm talking about "normal" sickness here - flu or vomiting. When I'm sick, I don't want anyone fussing over or even around me. Let me be in a dark room with a bucket or tissues handy. An occasional checkin by someone else is comforting, but I want to be alone. I'll probably sleep it off in a day or two. That this isn't so in other families came clear when (long story here...) my kid was being cared for by another mother while he vomited. She sat at his bedside, keeping a wet washcloth on his forehead. He was completely confused and a bit irritated. "Why would she do that?" It seemed a huge cultural difference was in play.