Early on in our married life Kramer and I made an agreement. I would take care of the poop diapers and he would take care of the puked. I’m okay with puke nowadays but back then as a new parent, puke would get the best of me. I’d find myself gagging and almost to the point of sympathy puking.
I was happy with the agreement that my husband would take care of the puke if I took care of the poopy diapers. Granted, my responsibility happened more often but at least I didn’t have to take care of puke.
I can remember one night when our youngest, Kalissa, 6 years old at the time, came into our bedroom in the middle of the night and said my tummy hurts and then the dreaded hurl of puke hit the floor. I vividly remember poking Kramer in the ribs with my elbow and saying, “Remember you do puke.” I rolled over and went back to sleep. He got up and took care of it.
Poop is more often but puke lasts a lot longer and that night I was so happy for all the poopy diapers I had changed to not have to get up in the night and deal with puke.
Well, this all came to the forefront of my mind Saturday morning….
I have Scotty and Lucy here. Thursday night Scotty said his tummy hurt. I wasn’t really surprised. Some kids do that when they are a little homesick and he’d been at my house for two days at that point.
It was just before bedtime when he said…also a classic time for kids who don’t want to go to bed to say that.
So I didn’t think anything of it until 5:45am and Scotty woke me up and said his tummy hurt. We ran to the bathroom…him retching. Me praying we made it.
Happily, prayers answered, he made it to the toilet.
Here he is camped out on the couch covered by my Criss Cross Applesauce quilt….blankie and kitty and bucket in tow.
I decided to set up camp on the couch next to him, close enough to help if he needs something but not to close to “get it”.
As I sat and stitched I couldn’t help but think that it’s not me that supposed to deal with the family puking…it’s Kramer that supposed to. We made a deal. Sadly that deal broke when he passed away last June.
All in all, I think it was a pretty good deal…the puke and poopy diaper deal. For the most part up until today, I was really happy with it. I always felt like I had won the deal with not having to deal with the puke…but I’m going to not dwell on it all and just be thankful we made it to the toilet!! Maybe that was the work of a guardian angel.
So our cousin plans for the day are off…looks like it will couch time and stitching time…that’s okay. We could use a laid back day. Hopefully, this is short-lived and Scotty feels better soon.
I couldn’t help but laugh at your post. Both p&p’s
Are hard to deal with. Luckily you had some help.
I always knew my husband was going to run away as fast as he could.
My hubby one day when I had the flu….if I have to change this poop pants I am going to puke! So guess what! Haha. But that is ok. I am amazed at the stuff my boys do now…poop, puke, whatever! Wow!
Sure hope Scotty is better by now and that it doesn’t spread to the others! That’s about the last thing you need, a house full of sick grandchildren! That is a funny agreement you had with Kramer!
Hope that you are feeling better Scotty!!
Hi Jo,
Love your Blog!
Thanks for sharing your life.
I’ve had a Sew Pad for awhile now, heard of it thru Bonnie’s blog, LOVE it!
Just today my daughter, who is now having to teach on-line, told me about how much more she sits at her computer and the discomfort. I just ordered one for her, thanks for the free shipping!
Marilyn
Jo, I enjoyed your blog. I had only one child to deal with so it wasn’t a continuing problem. My husband was a big help except for poopy diapers. He couldn’t stay in the room as the smell triggered his gag reflex. I checked that pad out and will put it on my wish list. Thanks for telling about it.
Poor guy, at least he is old enough to warn you. I got a real laugh out of this post. My hubby and I had a similar deal when our son was little. One night the kiddo got sick, we could here him from our bedroom! When we got into his room there was puke everywhere, not an exaggeration! While I washed the kid, dad got the wash the walls, the bed, and rinse out the blankets. Yuck.
Compromise is always the best deal. This is not about youngsters. As Albert and I age (gracefully, of course) we laugh when we hear of people arguing about the toilet seat problem. (You know, up or down). So this is what we do — who ever uses the toilet last, leaves it in the correct position for the other one. I other words, he puts the seat down and I put the seat up. Solves a lot of angry words and keeps me out of the water.
Poor Scotty! I hope he’s soon better, and that it doesn’t spread to the other kids.
Here’s a trick I learned from my mother: keep a jar of Vick’s VapoRub on hand. When you have a smelly mess to clean up, dip your finger in the Vick’s and put a smear on your upper lip, right under your nose. The menthol, camphor and eucalyptus in the Vick’s are all you’ll smell.
I thought puke would gross me out but I got over it when I worked with 3 yr olds at a day care. A young man didn’t feel well and I didn’t know enough not to let him in my lap where he proceeded to cover me with vomit. Sad to say, this happened to me with my second son too. A friend was watching him and when I picked him up he was hugging me and I ended up having to borrow a shirt from the friend. But….I very seriously doubt I can handle that now as I seem to be super sensitive to smells….lol
When you mentioned that Scotty came up and told you about his stomach, my first thought was to get him a bucket. It would be something that he could keep with him and hopefully use it if necessary. Glad to hear that you did get him to toilet in time. Thanks for sharing.
Hi
Very lovely blog post.
Your post brought back memories when I was about six and puked up sauerkraut all over our wood floor! My poor mom had to clean it up!!! Ugh! Hope Scotty is feeling better today!
Glad you didn’t have to do the dreaded puke duty, hahaha! When my kids were young and didn’t feel well at bedtime, I would lay out a couple of large towels and a plastic bag lined trashcan next to the bed. In case the couldn’t make it to the toilet, this was the other option. My kids continued doing this on their own as they grew up. Recently my granddaughter was spending the night and when I went to check on her at night, guess what was next to her bed…towels and a trash can. I had to laugh! I guess I taught her father well!
I think Kramer did keep his end of the deal. Maybe it was he who helped usher Scotty into the bathroom on time. Puke in the toilet is better than puke all over the floor ☺️. Hope the little guy is feeling better.
Never had to clean up puke from my son on the floor or bedding, but he did it twice on the highchair tray. Then there was the time he pooped (diarrhea) in the tub, while getting a bath. Yuck! My dog has made up for it on the puking. He tries so hard to make it to the back door, but several times, I’ve had to clean up 2 or 3 places.
I hope Scotty is feeling better soon. I had to deal with the poopy diapers and the puke so lucky you to be able to share
Poor Scotty. It’s the smell that gets me everyt ime. To this day I carry Vick’s Menthol Rub in my purse to mask all the strange smells out there. One dab under my nose and I’m good to go.
Oh puke is no fun! When my son was a toddler we had a white couch (stupid!) My son started gagging and had to puke, I put my hands out so not to get the couch dirty and he actually threw up in my hands, for a split second I thought it had been a good idea to save the couch and hands are easy to wash but I had my kid’s vomit in my hands!!! Yuck!!! Lol