Empathy Needed from Fellow Parents

[Luv Bunnies]

I'm sure other parents will know what I've gone through!

Let me set the scene: School was finally out on Friday! My two boys trooped through a long year of 2nd and 5th grade and these past few weeks have been torture for them. I work in the same district as a teaching assistant and the last few months were torture for me! We couldn't wait for our summer vacation and it finally, finally came.

Saturday was fully-planned with closing ceremonies for little league and a major league baseball game in the evening.

DH and I are sound asleep on Saturday morning, no worries about getting up early. Then, it happened.

I became conscious of someone walking into our room. I opened my eyes just in time to see our 11 year old hurl all over the floor! It hit the mattress, box spring and, most notably, the off-white carpet. The clock said 6:30 a.m.

So the kid just stands there and says, "I was afraid that was going to happen." He said was coming to tell me he didn't feel well and it didn't occur to him to make a pit stop in the bathroom on the way. I sent him into our bathroom and he proceeded to finish the deed in our sink (which promptly became clogged).

So, it's early. I'm tired and cranky. DH says he "can't deal with puke" and pulls the covers over his head. The sick one rinses, changes his pants (yes, #2 was an issue too) and announces he feels fine and wants to go downstairs and play. I sent him back to bed and ordered him back to sleep (which he promptly did).

After 1/2 an hour of spounging, mopping, unclogging the sink, etc. I crawled back into bed with the understanding that little league and major league were no longer on my schedule. DH and the little guy headed out for baseball. Big guy and I stayed home. He got up and played on the computer. I spent the day washing towels and sheets and hoping no one else catches the crud from him.

He's feeling better now (bless his little heart). Seems mostly unscathed by the ordeal. It think it was harder for mommy. I know we all handle these things as parents. It was just that jolt awake on the first day of summer vacation that threw me off the deep end! I'm sure others here can relate!!!! At least he didn't do it on the morning of a Disney trip. Now that would have been a disaster!!!!!!!!! Thanks for reading. I can feel the love already!!!!!

 

[gower525]

I have certainly been there. A full day of cleaning up vomit and runny poop is tragic. I hope the summer gets better for you.

 

[ldo]

We moved into a new house on New Year's Eve with some boxes and a few mattresses on the floor until movers came. Right before we popped open champagne, I felt this strange feeling and barely made it to the sink and barfed. I could only imagine doing that on brand new carpet--then up all night b___ and at 3 AM DS1 starts b___. I put him on a mattress with me and within 1 hr all sheets that I could find were full of b____. Then I found a box of towels and just started lying them on top of the bed and balling them up and throwing them in the bathroom. Then I ran out of towels and moved to another box, which was my turtlenecks--so I used all of those. By AM, I was better, but DH and DD1 (twins) also started b____.
I was elected to go to the Dr. with the kids. Kids threw up in car on the way to Dr.--I had to turn their coats inside out, b/c it was freezing and they still had to war them. Also, by now I only had pink lamb jammies for DS1 to wear.

By noon that day, we had lost all but one key to our new house and had no towels (and no washer). I went to Walmart to get meds, towels and make keys (b/c I knew the way our luck was running that we would get locked out of our new house).
Got to Walmart with older DD10, and at the check-out, she says she feels sick and b___ on Walmart floor--which I feel obliged to clean up with my new towels--and can't buy any more towels b/c I now have a sick child and need to leave. I tell DH he has to go to store and get ANY washer that will fit in his jeep and come home.
Then DD1 needs to go to hospital b/c too dehydrated--guess who is elected to go to ER. We get there and hospital is overflowing with b____ people, we are in the hallway--but I managed to seize a converted closet to share with another b____ person for the night.
I still laugh about our home's "christening." Best wishes--it does get better!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Oh my gosh, Ido! Yes, you've got my morning beat by a mile! My son only did the barfy thing once! You had the whole family joining in!!!! Blech! Aren't you glad that's over?

 

[fizz13]

Oh I really feel for you, I've so been there, my ex-DH wouldn't look at stuff like that and i was always left to deal with the lot. now why me saying "I don't deal with that" couldn't be an option
Anyway, a couple of months ago, i was on vacation with my 3 kids, looking after them on my own, and they all decided to get their barfing on in the same night. I was seriously running out of sheets, at least the villa had an outside shower so i stacked it all up out there after i rinsed it to deal with in the morning but i don't think i slept very much that night.

from me to you xx

 

[jenrein]

On one occasion my 8 yr old son threw up raviolis alllll over his bathroom. I am not kidding...like projectile! It was dripping off the walls, the vanity, the bathtub and worse IT WAS IN THE HEATING VENT! We had to drill out the heat vent and scrub pieces of noodle out of the slats, clean down into the heat duct and STILL for a month there was "that" smell everytime we turned the heat on. In all my years and 3 kids I have never witnesses something that horrible. And the poor kids knows I do not do well with puke so hes like mom...do you want me to clean it up? I told him no of course and did my best until my husband woke up and took over because he too knows I dont do well!

 

[pooksma]

I think most of us parents can relate. My DS had NEVER (yes, I said NEVER) puked in his life, until 2 weeks ago. Then we had incidents spread out over 2 weeks. A call from schol, a 3:30 am attack and a morning one. Interestingly, only Mommy got to share in this joy. Dad just had a queasy stomach.

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

I feel your pain although I don't want to share in your pain.

My kids are 8 and 12 and are just wrapping up 3rd and 6th grades. We've dealt with plenty of barf in the past 12 years. I'm the one who doesnt' deal with it well though. Older dd has a loft bed with a full sized desk underneath it. It is against the wall and is solid wood -- very, very heavy. We were used to dealing with the occasional stomach issue in a regular bed -- the girls knew that you run to the bathroom but in a loft bed it can be interesting. It is hard to manuver a ladder when you dont feel well. So of course she wakes up in the middle of the night and proceeds to throw up-- down the wall! DH had to make some gizmo to clean the wall without moving the bed. From now on when she doesn't feel well she sleeps on the floor or we give her a bucket.

 

[dementia412]

I just remember the horror of a sick baby when we had no washer and no money for the laundry mat. I was washing everything in our tub, and then I was trying to clean puke out of our blankets and sheets, and pillow, and trying to get that smell out of the mattress (because our first would only sleep in our bed, the baby bed sat unused). Every time I would get one thing clean she had puked on a couple more things... the whole place smelled horrible, and I was exhausted... I believe we just tossed out a couple blankets because cleaning them was just too much trouble.
My DH still tries the "I can't handle the puke/poop/ect", but I told him long ago that if I can deal with it so can he. I am not going to clean up every mess from three kids and both of us for the rest of my life!

The worst thing I've dealt with was my son "witholding" that is he didn't want to go poopie so he held it in untill it started dripping out all over the place, then maybe once a week he would have this horrid painful massive bowl movement... which made him not want to go on the potty even more so he kept holding it in. We had little poopy spots everywhere. He had been trained for a while before this started, and we're not sure why he started it, but it couldn't have been at a worse time ... we were starting potty training for his little sister, and she sees her brother pooping on the floor, and terrified of the potty! You can guess how well that went. I went through almost two years of picking poopies off my floor daily... we had to get a carpet cleaner, and my house smelled ... funny. The day I noticed there was no messes on my floor was so exciting. Then a week went by, OMG. No more poopiees! :cry: btw, he had to get medicine to get him back on track. He took it for about six monthes, and even after that he had become so used to not going on the potty, we basically had to retrain him to use it.
Now if we could just get them to FLUSH!

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

I hope your carpet survived the whole barf ordeal. DD kind of did the same thing in our old house. She got sick, went into the hallway and stood there and barfed-all over our light gray carpet. By the time we got her to the bathroom, she was all finished! No amount of steamcleaning ever got that stomach acid fully out of the carpet-the smell yes, but the stain, no. I think the house was maybe 6 months old at best when this happened. What a way to christen to new place! I get barf duty in our house too-I don't understand it, aren't the men supposed to be the strong ones?

 

[julm26]

I didn't have any throw-up on me but last sunday my DD2 and I (DH had to work) and some friends w/ kids went to breakfast. My DD2 went to pick up her apple juice and spilled it - ALL OVER ME!!!!! and the table.

I calmly asked for some napkins and preceded to wipe off the table and me. My friends just watched me and then I got this response

"we are so suprised you didn't freak out, you really have become a mother"


YES, PEOPLE, I HAVE ARRIVED AFTER 40 YEARS AND A LONG LABOR I AM A MOTHER!!!!!!

 

[kangareaux]

Hmmm.....They must all read the same husband/father manual. My DH also says he can't "handle" puke.

 

[ForeverDance]

A few years ago DD, DH, and I all got food poisoning. DH and I felt sick shortly after we had put DD to bed. We took turns running to the bathroom.

Then I hear DD cry and the horrible sound of her throwing up all over her bed. DH (who also "can't handle puke") looks over at me like "aren't you going to do something". So I pull myself out of bed. I remember thinking there is no way I am going to be able to get this all cleaned up while I can barely stand from the pain and my stomach already beginning to churn again. I got DD cleaned up and put her back in bed and rinsed her sheets and left them in the tub (yes I threw up numerous times in the process and DD spent the whole time over the toilet).

Just as I climb back in bed I hear DD get out of bed and start running. She made it as far as the hall before she threw up all over the carpet! I got her positioned over the toilet and proceeded to clean up the hallway. In the mean time DH is running to the bathroom, realizes DD is over the toilet and turns and throws up in the bathroom sink. Then, you bet I start getting "that feeling" and run to the bathroom where the only thing left was the tub!

In the end I finally got smart enough to find buckets for DH and I and I made up a bed in the tub for DD, yes I said in the tub, so she could just lean over the edge and throw up in the toilet.

We look back and laugh now.

 

[yrdlyprincess]

Wow-if that was me--I would be making EVERYONE take airbourne-opening all windows, bleaching as much as I could, of course doing a TON of laundry in HOT WATER...let's see did I miss anything. Yes, this happened to me too, well not the hitting the bed part, of the #2 part...but we got hit with an EXTREME FLU virus (there is a name but I forget it) from a suprebowl party this year, 11 or 12 of us got sick (violently ill) me, DH, DD6 all got it at the same time---then 3 days later DS2 got it (after he had fallen asleep-all over his favorite stuffed puppy--there's another 17.99) I am worried about our trip in Sept because BOTH children will be in school for about 2 weeks, airbourne or orange juice here we come! Good luck for no one else getting sick

 

[fan_of_small_world]

Growing up, my mother always kept a dish tub (you know, the smallish rectangular kind that can fit in the sink) under our beds just in case. If we couldn't make that, the rule was to throw up on the sheets, since they were way easier to wash than the carpet!

Now that I'm a mom, I have plastic trash cans next to each child's bed, and I've taught them the "barf on the sheets not the carpet" rule too!

In our house, my wonderful DH takes care of washing the trash can and/or sheets, and I take care of the sick kid. I have a horrible gag reflex, so if I have to do the sheets I'll be dry heaving over the washing machine (BTDT). I can handle cleaning up the kids much better for some reason.

 

[Tator Tot's Mom]

I can clean the kids up everytime... But thank God my husband is such a great Dad- he cleans up everything else! And yes, I've got that Gag reflex too- Glad to know I'm not the only Mom who pukes when I smell it!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Looks like many people have had the same experiences! I'm happy to report that, one week later, my boy is feeling just fine (actually he was fine after 2 days). And, luckily, no one else in the family caught whatever made him sick. I'm thinking it was something he ate. The day before was the last day of school and they had a class party.

It's funny how everyone says their husbands "can't handle puke." What's also funny is that, while I clean up after my own kids, I can't handle it when other kids puke. I work in a special ed preschool and we're had a few puking incidents over the years. Some of the kids are basically non-verbal so you don't get the "I don't feel good" warning. When a kid starts throwing up, I head for the door! But, I have no problem with blood. If a child scrapes a knee or whatever, I just grab the rubber gloves and put on my nurse's hat. No problem at all. The other aide in the class doesn't mind the puke so she handles it. I handle the blood. I'm glad we both have our areas of speciality. Now, neither of us like poopy diapers. We takes turns on those. And if we can't remember whose turn it is, we flip a coin!

 

[vy2cga]

Hope the rest of your summer vacation goes better. We had our dd's birthday party booked in October for January. The night before the big event I had overplanned for months, she was up sick and vomiting all night. I was running out of sheets and was washing sheets, bed, walls, carpet, bathroom etc. all night. I ended up putting plastic and towels everywhere with a bucket. She finally just looked at me and said she didn't want her party. She had never been so sick before. I could not cancel the skate as I knew the arena was fully booked for the season and I had half the town invited including all her kindergarden class. She did make it for a while but was groggy. She did not have pictures taken with the cake this year or anything. She could not skate and went home early. Everyone was asking me where the guest of honor was. I was so sorry her birthday party turned out like that and then I was sick on her actual birthday so it was a rough year.

 

[Starr W.]

Looks like many people have had the same experiences! I'm happy to report that, one week later, my boy is feeling just fine (actually he was fine after 2 days). And, luckily, no one else in the family caught whatever made him sick. I'm thinking it was something he ate. The day before was the last day of school and they had a class party.

It's funny how everyone says their husbands "can't handle puke." What's also funny is that, while I clean up after my own kids, I can't handle it when other kids puke. I work in a special ed preschool and we're had a few puking incidents over the years. Some of the kids are basically non-verbal so you don't get the "I don't feel good" warning. When a kid starts throwing up, I head for the door! But, I have no problem with blood. If a child scrapes a knee or whatever, I just grab the rubber gloves and put on my nurse's hat. No problem at all. The other aide in the class doesn't mind the puke so she handles it. I handle the blood. I'm glad we both have our areas of speciality. Now, neither of us like poopy diapers. We takes turns on those. And if we can't remember whose turn it is, we flip a coin!

Luckily my DH is good with the puke, he cleans up and strips the bed, while I deal with the sick one. Will even stay up with the sick kid.