After the kids went to bed last night, The Lumberjack and I sat on the couch and chatted for a bit. We chatted about upcoming plans and future plans. The upcoming plans involved Christmas, road trips, and birthdays. The future plans, of course, involving words such as: bulldozer, garden, wood stove, fence, a rabbit-breeding business, and a horse stable.
Unfortunately, there was no word on when the peach walls will be taking a bow.
We talked until there was nothing left to say and then we got onto the World Wide Web. He had the laptop and I had my phone. I would still consider it marital bonding, however, because I believe my feet were touching his knees. Although, I cannot be certain.
Then we switched devices and got sucked into the vicious game we play everynight.
Do you play this game with your loved ones?
Here’s how you do it:
You need two people, preferrably and old married couple, such as ourselves. Each of you needs some sort of distraction. In this case ours was the laptop and the phone. In past times, it has been the laptop and the TV. You may choose your devices as you see fit. Each of you needs to look busy while using your device. At some point look at your spouse. See that he appears to be doing something super important on the computer. So, you start a another TV show or load another web page as you wait for him to finish up. Fail to realize that he was just checking his email for the 18th time because when he looked up, you looked extremely busy.
Key Game Rules to Remember:
1. Don’t ever actually ask your spouse what they are doing.
2. Don’t ever actually suggest going to bed.
3. Keep loading meaningless web pages and starting TV shows you are too tired to watch.
Do this until of one of you falls asleep on the couch.
Anyways. We were playing that game last night when we heard our youngest boy crying down stairs.
He is such a trouble maker.
Since both of us were so busy on our computerish devices, we both ignored him for a second.
Do not judge us.
You must not be aware of our secret weapon . . .
The Informer.
The Informer is a six year old big sister who loves to tattle.
The Informer is constantly marching up the stairs to, well, inform us of what is going on downstairs.
“Well. You are not going to believe this. The boys. They are naughty. They are out of bed.”
“Mom. Guess what. The boys are playing trucks in bed.”
“Mom. Guess what. The boys are singing.”
“Mom. Guess what. The boys are jumping on their beds.”
“Mom. Guess what. The boys have taken all their blankets and have made a fort.”
“Mom. Guess what. The boys are hiding.”
“Mom. Mom? Mom! Guess what. When I walked by the bathroom, I smelled something funny. So I thought, ‘Hey. I will check it out.’ And I looked in the bathroom and there was poop in the toilet that brother did not flush. And guess what, Mom. He left his underwear on the floor. And guess what. He didn’t wipe very well. Cause, guess what? There is yuckies in his underwear.”
The Informer never stops to think that maybe she might get in trouble because, guess what, she is also not asleep.
So, as we slothfully sat on the couch, we were quite confident that if something were truly wrong, The Informer would come and inform us of it.
After a few moments, Little Dude stopped crying! But then he cried again. But then he stopped again! But then he cried again.
It was becoming more and more apparent that one of us was actually going to have to stand up and walk all the way downstairs to tell him to go to sleep.
Being a parent is exhausting.
Clearly, I am the one who loves the children more because it was I who got up to check on the Dude.
Pop Quiz: What is the worst scenario you can think of when you are checking on your child late at night?
Answer: Vomit.
And, yes. Vomit was everywhere. So, we had to clean it up, bathe him, and change the bedding.
After his bath, I snuggled with him on the couch while David changed the bed. As he snuggled on me, he looked like a baby still.
So then I got sad.
Sad that he is my last baby. Sad that my last baby is two and half. Sad that I will soon never have babies. Sad that life is all going by so fast.
I put him to bed. He said, “La-lu, Ma.”
Which means, of course, “I love you, Mom.”
And then we went to bed. I lay there thinking of how precious all my kids are.
I started thinking of how quickly time was passing, of how it seemed like just yesterday when I stayed home with just Sweet Pea. I thought about how fast they are growing and changing, how life just keeps flying by and I vowed to take more time to pause and enjoy every day.
As I was just about to fall asleep, I was thanking God for blessing me with four children.
And just then, at that moment, Little Dude threw up again.
Yes. It was kind of a bummer.
But, I am still thankful. Still blessed. Still happy.
***
In other, not as sappy news, we are going on a trip! A road trip! I am not sure if I will be posting much, seeing as how I can only post from my phone and I have yet to figure that out.
And you all know how tech-savvy I am.
However, I will definitely be able to post pictures and updates fo Facebook, so if you would like to, you can follow me there.
Click here and then just click on “like.”
Thank you and have a Happy Tuesday!
PS-Let us pray that the vomit shall cease in time for the road trip.
Have you ever tried to clean vomit out of a car seat?
All parents who have cleaned vomit out of the various nooks and crannies of a car seat surely deserve a medal.
We drove from Maryland to Tennessee for my sister in law and brother in laws wedding, about 10 hours. Daughter2 rode the entire way with a bucket under her chin. There were many stops. Not our fondest road trip memory. She looks ghostly pale in all the wedding pics but hey she’s standing so that’s something. She is still cute of course, but pale pale pale. She seemed to rally a bit later that day and some friends in TN we hadn’t seen in a while invited us to a little party at their house two days later. Daughter2 had not had anything more than sprite and saltine crackers in two days yet, she helped herself to a bowl full of m & m’s. sigh. Hubs and I spotted ‘the look’ from across the room and made a beeline for her, gathered her up in record time and flew to the closest sink which was in the kitchen which was full of people we didn’t know (gross I know but it beat the alternative) where she lost it. We are still friends with these folks : ) If their name comes up in conversation and the girls don’t know who I mean they are always identified as ‘the people whose sink M threw up in.’
Hoping that bug doesn’t spread…pack sprite, crackers, tylenol and your most heavy duty carpet cleaner. Oh, and have fun!
Aw, poor baby. I hate it when they’re sick. My husband is very firm about tattle tale-ing/informers. Every time we comes down hard on them for tattling, I feel a little frantic, and say things like, “unless of course the person you’re telling on is hurting someone, or doing drugs!” My own paranoia interferes with the discipline of my kids, drives me nuts.
Did you shower yourself afterward LJ-disinfect-the-world style?! Haha! 🙂
Can’t wait to hear about your roadtrip! How are you going to keep your location of origin a secret if we know where you’re traveling and what states you’re traveling through?! 🙂 I want to take a roadtrip!!!
I have a really random and interesting vomit storry from my youngest I need to share on my blog.
Ha! I forgot about that sentence at the bottom. 🙂 I meant to erase it.
Poor Little Dude ~ I hope he feels better soon. I hope you can get some rest and that it doesn’t spread to the other three!
I also have been very sentimental about my two lately. They do grow up so quickly. I really want a pause button!
I’ve played that game.
Only I’m single, so I play it with myself.
It requires a higher tolerance for distraction and a smidgen of stupidity, but it’s possible.
i have had to clean vomit out of a car seat…more than once, actually!! NOT.FUN!!! poor little buddy…this seems to be somewhat of a trend with him, no? some kids have a super-dee-duper strong gag reflex and just coughing can trigger a vomit-fest, is this the case with this dear fellow? either way, YUCK!! i can handle all kind of blood and guts, but vomit, NO.THANK.YOU!!!
anyway, have a safe and happy trip!!! =)
Wow – I miss those nighttime interruptions…
Poor baby! And poor Mama and Daddy having to clean up all the vomit! Will be praying for a nice, vomit-free road trip for you all!
I’ve cleaned vomit and lots of other bodily fluids/excretions from car seats. There have been times when I tried to convince Indiana it was time to trade in the van because I could no longer get the odors out. Of course that also cuts down on the trade in value. Who knew?
Hope LD is feeling better soon!
Yep, vomit is definitely the worst-case scenario in the late-night cries for me too.
It doesn’t happen often around here, for which I am thankful. But then again, I have two less kids that you, so my chances were already lowered.
Bring buckets on your trip. Just in case it spreads.
Yes. Yes we do deserve a medal. 🙂
I’m so sorry your little one threw up! That’s always GROSS. And believe me, anyone who’s been a parent for more than a week understands the not-getting-up-the-second-your-child-cries thing.
I’ll take one of those medals!
Have a great trip.
I am certain that I have cleaned vomit from every imaginable surface. I feel your pain. Until my children were well into elementary school we never took a road trip that did not involve vomit at some point.
I hope your luck is better than mine.
Good call snuggling while LJ (I know not this “David” of whom you speak) cleaned the sheets. The sheets are the grossest part.
Glad you’re peaceful and reflective at vomit-thirty, ’cause I’m not.
It’s nice that your informer has her siblings’ safety and well being in mind when she reports to you, I’m sure that’s why she does it.
…and cleaning vomit out of a car seat is way easier in the summer when you can get the hose out and spray it down than when it’s 4 degrees outside and the hose is hibernating. I second medals and hope no one has to deal with the car seat issue at all this winter.
Our game involves a fleece blanket, a pillow and the couch. The minute I pull that out, my husband knows it’s just a matter of time before I’m completely out, and then he will have to wake me up to go to bed, and then I will be mean and cranky and stumble into the bedroom and fall into bed.
Taylor, I enjoy reading your blog for several reasons, one of which is that you make me laugh, but probably more than that it’s because you take me back to when my four children (two boys, two girls) were little again. The time does go by so fast and it is very exhausting being a parent of little ones but there are so many joys, too. It’s good that you realize how fast time flies and strive to really enjoy your blessings.
P.S. Sorry about the vomit…and yes, I’ve cleaned vomit out of carseat nooks and crannies (mostly by taking the whole cover off…ugh…that’s almost worse than cleaning the vomit).
Ugh, I have had the vomit plenty of vomit. True story, we were on vacation in CT and NYC and my oldest decided to get sick in a rental car on the way to Statue of Liberty… yeah… fun, (not so much) So we didnt go visit her that day but we did see her another day, just a bummer that I had to clean vomit out of not my car and had a whole day down and wasted while on vaca… bummer. Anyways I hope you all feel better soon so you can enjoy your little away time! Did you figure out what you are doing with the girls hair?
I am with you on the growing up too fast thing, with my oldest I couldnt wait for him to hit all his fun new milestones, talk, crawl, walk, recording every tooth, grin, and giggle, but as I had more babies, the more you just want them to slow down so you can hold them longer and keep them safe and small, cuddling them just one more day. I am lucky that none of mine have stopped wanting hugs/cuddle time but it does get harder as they are almost as tall as me(one of them anyway)…. *sigh* they just keep getting older and bigger and although it is fun to help them grow it is sad to think about when they were small and you could just hold them and watch them breathe.I have most definately learned to cherish and love every moment, even the pukey, boogery ones!
But I hope your trip is without vomit and I hope it is a great time! I will look forward to hearing about your great adventures!
P.S. I am totally excited to hear more about the bunny breeding! (who’s idea is this?)
P.P.S. Love the pic of naughty dude digging for gold! 🙂 too cute!
So sorry about the middle-of-the-night puking…that is really a bummer. I was afraid we were facing that scenario tonight, Christian was acting weird. But, I think he was just super tired. He did halfway fall out of the bed, which sound I hoped was not him hurling giant chunks, and then got back in bed saying, with half-closed eyes,”I’m all right. I’m all right.” He sort of reminded me of Elvis. Only much smaller and blonder. I think I need to go to bed. Or eat another brownie.
Hope all is well soon, especially for your trip!!
Road trip!! Good luck and Godspeed. I hate vomit. Yep, that about sums that up. Have fun and be careful, dear friend!
I think it is a requirement of playing said game with your children. They make it so easy to play. I too have an informer in Middle Guy who will come down to tell me he can’t sleep because Big Guy is reading, making noises, has his light on ect, ect.
Hope he feels better soon and doesn’t share with his siblings. Time to get the Lysol out and use liberally!
umm, yeah. yuck.
tips born of “ill” experience:
1) when it’s too cold to do it outside, hose the car seat with cover and other affected paraphernalia in the shower. it’s easily disinfected.
2)buckets take up too much space (even in the uber rig). try tupperware/rubbermaid containers made for storing spaghetti; stuff multiple plastic sacks inside. top bag is folded over edge of container, secured with rubberband.
why this works:
1) fits easily at base of carseat where child (or helpful sibling) can easily reach it
2) spaghetti box is narrow enough for child to easily hold
3) narrow top reduces “splash-over”
(THIS IS SO GROSS! I CAN’T BELIEVE I AM DETAILING BARF CONTROL!)
*sigh*
lastly, the super gross barfed-in-bag can be tied up and disposed of easily. a few baby wipes and we are on our way. oh, and a squirt of hand sanitizer for everyone present.
it should go without saying (but it won’t this time) that plastic bags chosen for this special assignment have no holes and are not of the “compostable” variety.
I did not make this up because I have nothing else to do. hard won experience, my friend. hard won experience.
have a good trip 🙂
Another help is cutting old sheets so you can slip the straps of the carseat through and then cover the carseat with a sheet if they are not feeling well. Extra sheets and towels are our friends (both at home and on the road) when our children are in vomit mode!