Moms don’t get sick days—and Pink is just one example of that

The planned downtime couldn’t come at a better time for Pink and her family, as she’s been suffering from an upper respiratory infection. Earlier this week the singer announced that the concert originally scheduled for today in Sydney had to be postponed. Although Pink had a few days off before the concert, her doctors figured she wouldn’t be recovered in time for today’s show. (If you’ve ever been to one of Pink’s shows you know that’s not the kind of performance once can do without full respiratory capabilities, and definitely not the kind of thing to try to pull off while taking NyQuil.)

So when The Daily Telegraph printed a photo of Pink resting at the beach with her family alongside the headline “Pink’s Sydney concert cancelled as she chills in Byron Bay,” the singer took offense and issued a statement on Instagram to clarify that she did not cancel her concert to chill, but because she had no other choice.

“I scheduled this tour meticulously, trying to do what was best for my children, while also putting on the best and most physically demanding and beautiful show of my life. This break in Byron has been scheduled since 2017, as a way to get outside the hotel and the winter and have some time with my children,” she wrote.

“What these parasite paparazzi don’t show you, is two doctor visits in Byron on two consecutive days, antibiotics, steroids, Vick’s, nose spray, throat spray, more steroids, NyQuil, a screaming baby in the middle of the night, every night, while mama gives him warm baths and tells her daughter everything is fine,” she went on.

“What they don’t show you in this picture is me drinking water and lying down while my friends try to entertain my 7-year-old who is asking me why these creepy men are surrounding us and pacing back and forth and taking pictures of her every move.”

As mothers who are used to being in perpetual motion, getting sick sucks. It’s hard to feel like you’re dropping a ball, like you’re letting people down, but our bodies need rest to recover from illness.

“I’m doing the absolute best I can, and you can believe it or not,” Pink wrote on Instagram.