Is it mandatory that when a child is sick and vomiting...

[Colleen]

....said vomiting takes place (a) when something special is on the schedule, and/or (b) all night long, and/or © after they've eaten something like pizza or chili or pasta with red sauce, and/or (d) after you've just cleaned the house, washed the sheets, etc.?

 

Seriously, doesn't it seem like that? I really am very fortunate in that my boys are seldom sick ~ whereas my poor mother had to put up with my constant strep and what-not. But boy, the "Murphy's Law" of when kids throw up is kinda bizarre!

Edited January 4, 2009 by Colleen

[Nicole M]

In a word: Yes. It is mandatory.

 

In our house, there is a variation. Sick child generally would prefer to barf on The Father. So The Mother holds the barfer while The Father cleans towels, sheets, PJs, then, immediately prior to next round of barfing, insists on being held by The Father. Barf. Rinse. Repeat.

 

Of course, that was when they were little. We're lucky that now they're big and can manage to transport themselves to the bathroom.

 

I'm so sorry! :grouphug:

[Jen500]

...or when we're camping. In the middle of the night. In the tent.

[LisaKinVA]

Yup... especially when said vomiter can puke over the side of HIS bed in the middle of the night onto the unsuspecting sibling below, with a suspicious accuracy of aim. :D

 

Of course... it never ceases to amaze me how my littlest boy can sleep through being vomited on... as well as when he vomits all over himself!

[Caroline]

In our house it happens as soon as Dad's plane takes off. It rarely fails, DH leaves town for a meeting and someone vomits or spikes a fever.

[Vida Winter]

Vomit is never a good thing, and when it happens it always seems to be in the worst of possible circumstances. We went on vacation just after Thanksgiving and on the fourth day in my littlest one started - in the car. We had no choice but to pull over, change her clothing, and keep going. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. When we got home we all fell like dominoes, one at a time. I honestly don't know how we all made it through the next week - it was something like a scene from Night of the Living Dead.

 

My sincere prayers that the rest of you don't get it and that your son feels better soon.

 

:grouphug:

Dana

[Chelle in MO]

I cannot possibly describe how completely I identify w/this, Colleen! Mustard is nearly impossible to get out of beige carpet (the sun's fading ability finally did it), and Dad's shirt has a purple hue from grape juice. I could go on and on about car rides and important events being interrupted, but I'd probably just add to your pain.

 

Hang in there!

 

Chelle

[abbeyej]

My sister was about 8 when she got ill in the middle of the night and vomited from her top bunk bed all over her room, but most especially on the packed suitcase open in the middle of the room, ready for a family vacation that was to begin the next morning. My mom spent the entire night washing and re-packing the suitcase and scrubbing the whole room.

 

As I recall, after the initial bout of ... illness ... my sister felt much better and she and my dad slept soundly till it was time to get up and head to the airport. ;)

 

(My kids always wait till dh is out of town. They vomit or procure ER trips when he's in some other timezone. Dd has vomited in my hair. Repeatedly.)

[Once]

Yep. I have a blueberry story that has made a grown woman cry. Really.

 

I'm sorry you are the unfortunate one this time.

[Pretty in Pink]

Mandarin oranges are especially aromatic, especially when you're driving down the interstate in the middle of December with the windows shut up tightly. One of my childrens' carseat covers has been through the wash. repeatedly. on account of motion sickness.

[Colleen]

My current scenario isn't traumatic since my almost-9 year old has taken himself to the bathroom with each, er, bout. Okay, once he mistook the sink for the toilet and that involved some baling on my part, but still, I'm not in dire straits. I was up with him all night, but I entertained myself by watching most of the third season of "Northern Exposure". So it's not all bad.

 

I was just thinking about why kids (people in general?) do often seem to toss their cookies more at night. And about the Really Awful Stories I've read from some folks here. I was feeling a bit blue about missing out on something I wanted to attend today. And wishing Luke hadn't eaten that pizza with feta last night. I was considering that the few times (again, I'm fortunate in this) my guys have been sick enough to vomit, it honestly has been after the sheets were washed, etc. ~ or it's been away from home altogether.

 

Like the 12-hour flu ~ seriously, it hid hard and fast and was hideous but it was bizarre how quickly it passed ~ that ran through each of the boys while we were on a road trip. Or worse, the Really Awful February Flu that took place during a trip to Switzerland. The one that started ~ and I do mean started! ~ on the train from the airport. The one that took down each of us in turn, including my pregnant self. I do believe the only thing worse than being sick at home is being sick at someone else's home, kwim?

 

Anyway. I expect some or all of the other guys will get this, which stands to reason since we're starting up school and activities again tomorrow. I'll have to make sure we stay away from colorful foods over the next few days.;)

[Colleen]

My sister was about 8 when she got ill in the middle of the night and vomited from her top bunk bed all over her room, but most especially on the packed suitcase open in the middle of the room, ready for a family vacation that was to begin the next morning. My mom spent the entire night washing and re-packing the suitcase and scrubbing the whole room.

 

UUUGGGHHH!!!!! That is so awfully awful I am going to live the rest of my life in fear of such a thing happening to me. Shudder. 'Course, she was at home, which is an advantage.

 

One of my earliest memories (isn't it sad, the weird stuff we remember versus the good stuff we forget?) is at age 5 or so, waking up, opening my mouth to call my mom, and losing it all over the bed, the wall, the carpet. All these many years later may I just say..."I'm sorry, Mom."

[TraceyS/FL]

Shuttle Launch tickets..... child #3 - 4th person in the house of 5...... had to leave the house at 8am - she starts hurling at midnight.

 

You know, the CAUSEWAY Tickets. Get on the bus and gets CLOSE UP.

 

Darn kid.

[Audrey]

....said vomiting takes place (a) when something special is on the schedule, and/or (b) all night long, and/or © after they've eaten something like pizza or chili or pasta with red sauce, and/or (d) after you've just cleaned the house, washed the sheets, etc.?

 

Seriously, doesn't it seem like that? I really am very fortunate in that my boys are seldom sick ~ whereas my poor mother had to put up with my constant strep and what-not. But boy, the "Murphy's Law" of when kids throw up is kinda bizarre!

 

You've pretty much hit the Golden Trifecta (Quadfecta?) of kids and vomit.

 

When ds was younger, his vomiting was always in the middle of the night, preceeded by him waking up and emitting a long cry. We would rush to his room with a pukie pail (old ice cream pail) and a wash rag in hand, but wouldn't you know it? He always vomitted all over himself and the bed a split second before we could get the pail in the path of the puke.

 

Now, he's a bit older and able to manage to get himself to a pail or the bathroom. If we even suspect that he might be sick, we put a pail and a roll of paper towels beside his bed.

 

His worst timing for getting sick though... the night before dh's mother's funeral. Ds was about 2yo. Dh had not really slept in the several days since her passing, and had only just then settled in for a sleep when we heard "the cry." The next hours until dawn were a seemingly endless routine of crying, vomitting, cleaning up (because even if it goes in the pail, a little kid gets messy). Come daylight, ds seemed calm and quiet. We debated back and forth and finally decided to let the babysitter come anyway, but I high-tailed it back home straight after the service to tend to ds. It wasn't a disaster, but it was the emotional icing on the cake for poor dh. I've never seen him, before or since, so completely frazzled, worn-out and emotionally drained.

Edited January 4, 2009 by Audrey

[mommaduck]

Not sure...but it is mandatory that just when you are getting everything in order and there's a big day or week off for your hubby to help do the BIG projects...you WILL get sick.

[swellmomma]

add e) when you are sitting on the floor playing with them face to face. Baby girl projectiled all over my face yesterday. That was one of the fastest sprints I have ever made to the shower. EWWWWW!

[SapphireStitch]

Yep. I have a blueberry story that has made a grown woman cry. Really.

 

 

 

We have a blueberry story, too. My kids both have tricky gag reflexes and, when young, end up vomiting when they cough or have post-nasal drip. (I say "when young"...DS is 7 and has been sick twice this winter without yacking...we are hopeful.)

 

Anyway, DD was 7 and we had just moved into our brand new house with brand new creamy beige carpet everywhere. It was late, late, LATE at night. We all had bad colds and were totally trashed from the stress of building and moving. Someone stopped up the toilet, and DH couldn't find our plunger so headed over to WalMart at midnight to get another one.

 

While he was gone, DD had a coughing fit and ran down the hallway, puking up the delicious blueberry pie a dear friend had brought us as part of our moving dinner.

 

I called DH at WalMart: Please buy carpet cleaner while you're there.

 

DH: WHY?? What in the world do you need carpet cleaner for at this time of night?

 

ME: Just buy it, don't ask me any questions, just BUY IT!!

 

:tongue_smilie:

[Nakia]

Yes, of course. My children must always barf at night, right after I've gone to sleep, after eating/drinking a dairy product. :ack2:

 

Oh, good times, good times.

[Tarheel Heather]

How about at a birthday party in front of the table with the cake on it.

[Julie in CA]

Ok, I know you *didn't* ask, but I'm gonna tell my #1 vomit story anyway.

Perhaps you'll be able to see the humor. I sure can, but when I told my mom and my sister about this one, they just stood with their mouths hanging open and these big, concerned expressions on their faces...

 

We had kids 5, 7, 9, 10 1/2, & 12 when this happened.

We went out to dinner at a local mexican restaurant with dh's extended family. With all the families who live locally, it ends up being about 30 people altogether. We would always ask for the back room of the restaurant in order to fit such a large, noisy, (and sometimes rowdy kids) group.

 

We had finished dinner, when my 10 1/2 yos came and whispered in my ear, "mom, Elise (dd 7yo) is sick and threw up." I bolted to attention immediately and asked him if she'd made it to the bathroom first. He said no, so I came tearing out of that back room faster than a steaming locomotive, so to speak. Well, she had indeed *not* made it to the bathroom, and as I turned the corner I slipped in a puddle of vomit that had pooled on the tile floor and camouflaged itself as an artistic mexican design.

 

Can you say, "whiplash"? Yes, truly, I hit that tile floor and went down hard. I could see people at the bar staring at me with eyes wide with horror, and I recall someone saying in panic, "should we dial 911?". As is usual for me in times of extreme stress and physical shock, I started giggling uncontrollably. I could see my dd in the open door of the ladies' room, retching (still not actually over a trashcan or toilet bowl), so I picked myself up immediately (covered from back to hip to ankle with vomit) and hurried off to the bathroom, where I placed dd over a toilet bowl, gathered paper towels and a handy bottle of spray cleaner, and wiped down the entire floor and walls of the restaurant bathroom. I cleaned up dd, washed my hands, and went quietly out to the car. Dh met me at the car about 10 minutes later (where I could not tell him what had happened because I was still giggling). He didn't see the humor. :001_huh:

 

We had a fragrant ride home, during which I still couldn't complain about any pain (or the awful, horrible smell), because I didn't want to embarass my already-embarassed dd. She felt terrible, and I didn't want to add to that.

 

I went home, showered, iced the basketball-diameter bruise on my hip, and went to bed. In the morning, and for about 2 weeks thereafter, I could literally almost not get out of bed. I had a horrendous headache, a neck ache, and I could barely hold up my head. It probably took me about 6 weeks to regain some semblance of normalcy.

 

I have more vomitous stories than anyone I know, but I won't regale you with any further tales (at least not today).

 

All of this to say, I totally sympathize with where you are if you have a sick kid. It really stinks!! (but you didn't slip in a puddle of vomit and end up with whiplash, so at least you can comfort yourself with that :))

Edited January 4, 2009 by Julie in CA

[LaxMom]

:rofl:

 

I am laughing so thoroughly and hysterically, my husband keeps shooting weird looks at me.

 

I can assure you all that it has never, ever been remotely this humorous when any of the children has barfed over the past 20 years... but for some reason, the memories are just rushing back. You know how they say "you'll laugh about this someday"? Well, there you go. Oooh, the memories.

 

(Except yours Audrey. I would have been found, a weeping, gelatinous mass in a closet.)