Tummy Bugs

This past weekend, Kelsey's softball team had a tournament scheduled in Pigeon Forge. As we like to do a couple of times a year, Joe and I reserved a cabin in a Pigeon Forge resort for the weekend since we were going to be up there anyway. The kids love this little vacation and so does Mom because it's close to home and there's not TOO much packing that has to be done for all of us for just the weekend.

So we are preparing to start packing the car up Friday morning, having taken the dogs to the kennel, Joey back to Jefferson County, etc., when Kelsey informs me we just MAY not be able to go to the cabin this weekend. When I ask her why, she tells me she just threw up. Matter of fact, no moaning, no whining, just, "Hey, guess what, I'm sick," kinda thing. At first I thought she was kidding, but as I got closer to her, that kinda pale yellow color on her face told me she was not. She said she felt fine now and thought it might just be because her nose had been stuffy this morning and all the gunk had made her tummy upset. So after an hour passed and she was screaming for food, I thought she might have been right. I fixed her a piece of toast and kept on preparing for the trip.

Two hours later, we're all still fine. By the third hour, Joe had started toward the bathroom to clean (Those who know him understand) when Kelsey came and stood in the doorway. I could tell she no longer felt fine just by the look on her face. So I shoved Joe out of the bathroom and helped Kelsey make it inside. There was no doubt now -- She had a stomach virus.

Needless to say, our trip was cancelled. The cabin facility very graciously agreed to let us postpone our trip after Joe and I grovelled for half an hour or so. Sydney was in tears for an hour because she had so been looking forward to the weekend. Kelsey, ever the tender-hearted girl, was telling me (as she was hovering over the toilet) she was so sorry for ruining the weekend. It was pitiful. But Joe promised Sydney they would do something, just the two of them and he took her out for lunch and to run errands later in the day, even letting her have an ice cream cone at Chik-Fil-A. He said Sydney told him that was BETTER than going to the cabin. And I stayed home and took care of Kel Bell while she battled her insides.

So here we are three days later and everything is pretty much back to normal. Kelsey was sick for about eight hours and then started feeling a bit better. Her fever spiked to 103.8 Friday night, which scared her poor mother to death. Thank the Good Lord for Motrin, I say. By Saturday morning, though, the fever was pretty much gone and Kelsey was ready for Popsicles, Jell-O and chicken brother galore. Kelsey says getting sick isn't so bad really because at the end you get to have all the Popsicles you want. A kid's perspective, I guess!

I'm sure if you're reading this you're thinking how much my weekend must have sucked, but it really was okay. On Saturday afternoon while Joe was waiting out a rain delay in Pigeon Forge with the softball team, I decided to decontaminate Kelsey's bathroom and her bedroom while she took a shower. So I stripped her bed, Lysoled everything I could find (I literally had to open a window afterward), cleaned the bathroom with Scrubbing Bubbles, Clorox Wipes and then another coat of Lysol and then I washed all the mats, sheets, etc., in a cauldron of scalding water. While I was wiping down the faucets in her bathroom, Kelsey came in and said, "Thanks, Mom." I said, "For what?" She said, "For taking care of me and making me better." No prompting, no bribery, just an on-her-own Thank You, Mom.

Sometimes when you're wiping snotty noses, holding hair back while your kids upchuck, taking temperatures, sitting in a steamed up bathroom at 3 a.m. trying to get rid of that croupy cough, doling out meds or just worrying yourself into panic attacks over your kids' health, you wonder if they'll ever know or understand just how much you put yourself through being a parent. You think one day when they've got little ones they'll get it and they'll appreciate all your efforts. But sometimes they surprise you when you're standing in the bathroom, up to your elbows in germs, all umcombed, still in your PJs at noon, desperately needing a shower yourself and they'll say, "Thanks, Mom", just like that. Nothing fancy. And that's when you know they're worth all the yuckiness and worry and loss of sleep the world can throw at ya'!

~Peace