Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Vomit and an apology to my mother

When I was a kid, I would get the stomach flu occasionally. Sometimes, when it struck at night, I remember the following scenario.

Me (shaking my mom to wake her): Mom, I just threw up.

Mom: (In a half asleep daze): Where?! Did you throw up on the carpet? Your bed? In the hallway? The bathroom rugs? Where?!

Me: I made it to the toilet.

Mom: Oh, ok. Poor baby, how are you feeling?

I always thought it was hilarious that she inquired about the furnishings first. When I was older and devious, I would bring these little stories up at opportune moments (shopping, etc.) as a way to secure things I wanted.

Evil, evil Carolyn. Sorry, Mom.

Last week, James had the stomach flu and yeah, I was quite occupied with every surface that kid was throwing up on. Our bed and bedding, the carpet, the towels, pillows, clothes, etc. Man, that kid was puking every 20-30 mins all day. He wasn't showing any signs of dehydration, but we worried about him because he couldn't keep ANY liquids down. He fell asleep around 6:30pm and we called his ped. She said to let him rest for a couple of hours and then give him pedilyte again. If he couldn't keep that down, then we should take him to urgent care.

Well, lo and behold, we had to go to urgent care. Except all the urgent cares closed at 9pm so we had to take him to the ER. It was actually a delightful visit to the ER. Yep, I said delightful. There was not 1 person in the waiting room and they got us in immediately. James was assessed and they gave him some meds to stop the puking. After the medicine worked its magic, they gave him water and it stayed down, yay!

The medicine turned him into a total goober. He took the disposable vomit bag and turned it into a puppet, a hat and other fashion accessories. When the doctor came in to check on him, I swear he was batting his beautiful lashes and practically asking for her phone number.



3 comments:

Janine said...

I love the vomit bag pics. Hopefully the boy is doing better already!

Unknown said...

I'll get you, Carolyn! Mom

Chris said...

"Into every childhood, some vomit must fall" or something like that . . . it's an inconvenience, especially when it's that dreaded projectile type, but it sure makes you appreciate the days that the little ones feel good. It reminds me of the story of the man who was unhappy with his life and went to the rabbi, complaining that his 8 children were messy and unruly and that the wife was constantly ragging on him about something. The rabbi counseled him to get a goat & come back in 2 weeks. "So, how are things?" the rabbi asked. "Awful! Now, not only is the house a total disaster, it stinks! And the wife is screaming more than ever!" "Okay, get rid of the goat and come see me in 2 weeks" said the rabbi. "So, how are things now?" he asked after 2 weeks. "Great!" answered the man, "it's just me, the wife and 8 kids!"