Reality Blogging

The time is 1:15 a.m. I am sitting in the living room waiting on the washing machine to finish washing the throw up off of Jillian's beloved blankie and bed linens. Travis has throw up duty tonight, so he is sitting in the chair with Jillian snoozing with the bathroom trash can beside them, cocked and ready. This is reality, folks!

I decided to sit and write a blog about the kids school achievements at about ten minutes to ten tonight. I felt fine then. By 10:15 p.m. I was sick and in the bathroom. My stomach finally stopped cramping and I finally fell asleep in my own bed.

A blood-curdling scream came from Jillian's room a bit later. One of my mommy ears is always alert to what is happening while I'm sleeping, so my body's first reaction was to dart out of bed. However, my nauseated body went nowhere.

"Travis," I said, "Jillian is throwing up." I didn't have to go in and look to see what was wrong. Motherly intuition, I guess...or maybe this is the routine when the household passes a bug around.

Daddy Hero Travis rushed in to save Jillian from her ills, only to be thrown up ALL over before making it to the bathroom for the second round of tummy flips.

Travis yelled, "JAE! I NEED you in here!!!"

"Coming," I said, groaning and gingerly rising out of bed to prevent my tummy from doing a flip, too. I mustered up as much "stomach" as I had left and entered the bathroom to find Travis and Jillian covered.

"Let's go to the other bathroom," I said. "We'll give her a bath."

I started the water, afraid to look up again and look at or catch a sniff of supper (for the third time). I finally looked up. I reached out to get Jillian and smelled the smell. I stepped back, green from nausea.

"Do you need me to undress her?" Travis asked. My green face said it all.

Then we tag-teamed. Travis undressed her, placed her in the tub, and took care of the contaminated laundry. I gave her a bath and sat with her (she was still sick, but with help was making the bucket now) while Travis took a head-to-toe scrub down shower and put on clean clothes. Travis then graciously took Jillian to the chair to be the throw up helper/comforter/cleaner-upper while I re-made Jillian's bed and monitored the laundry AND my own stomach.

Travis and Jillian are now in bed. It's ten 'till 2:00 a.m. and the beloved blankie is now drying. Travis said his stomach is souring before getting into bed this time, and I keep hearing another of the kids getting restless. The dryer might finish tumbling just in time for round three tonight!

My stomach feels better now. Good night, y'all. Oops, I guess that would be good morning!