At 2:15 this morning I heard the cries of one of my kids. When one of them is upset I can’t really tell their cries apart. Since my wife had been called in to work overnight, I guess it was up to me to inspect what was going on.
Earlier this week my oldest and youngest kids were sick at the same time and by at the same time I mean, they were up in the middle of the night throwing up at the exact same time. It was not a good night for any of us, but luckily my wife and I were both home to deal with the situation. Not tonight. Tonight I was flying solo.
When I finally figured out that the cries were coming from my son, I knew he had caught “the bug.” Since he still sleeps in a crib his mess was pretty easily contained. I scooped him up out of his crib and tossed his blankets and sheet in the washing machine.
Well, Happy Third Birthday little man. I guess you are celebrating your birthday like many 21year olds tonight, with pieces of throw up in your hair.
I took him into the bathroom and set him on the floor. He was just staring at me, confused about what had just happened. I not sure why, but I sang Happy Birthday to him, right there, in the middle of the night, on the bathroom floor. Then, I made him a makeshift bed on the floor, but he refused to try to go back to sleep.
He got sick a few more times throughout the night. He handled the whole situation pretty well, but once through the drool, spit, vomit and tears he managed to sob the words,”I don’t know how to do it.” I guess no one had ever taught him how to throw up properly. One more item to add to the list of things to teach my son. I’m putting that at the bottom of the list.
If every situation is a learning experience, then I guess I learned one important lesson from tonight. If someone in your family has recently been sick, then no one in the family is allowed to eat hot dogs for at least a week, and no ketchup either.
So now I find myself sitting at my computer, I’ve turned on the coffee pot, the universal symbol for giving up on sleep for the night, while my son sits on a blanket on the couch watching Sesame Street on DVR.
Hopefully, he is on the mend and will still be able to have a half-way decent birthday, while I will be looking over my shoulder wondering if I will be the next one to catch, “the bug.”
Happy Parenting, and Happy Birthday Little Man,
-Pete