it can always be worse

hearing the words, "mummy i vomitted" are not pleasant words.

but they are not the worst, i learned the other day.

the worseness is compounded when:

- the child is talking to you

- it is 3.30 in the morning

- they repeat the sentence and tag on, "i vomitted in bed".

sweet heaven.

i swung out of bed, filled with tiredness and sympthy for sela. poor little dote.

but, i was also alert enough, my mum beams working at 90 per cent to say:

"turn toward the door" (aka: not near my bed, if you are vomitting again, i don't want it to be on my bedlinens)

my next question: "are you going to vomit again"

once we had established NO, i asked , "did you get any vomit on yourself? and so after i had removed her nightdress, i gave her a cuddle. (didn't want vomit on me.)

sela was still tired and a bit weepy, so i let her come and watch me have a wee, which always cheers the kids up. something about how much space my bottom takes up on the seat. and then i dispatched her off to brush her teeth "you will feel better. everyone needs to brush their teeth to feel tidy and fresh after they vomit" i went into the room she shares with three others to inspect the damage.

i started off touching the floor around me. so far so good. nothing. the air purifyer was also pristine. excellent. i crawled until i was looking down on the bed and saw the rough outline of the damage. quickly whisked off the sheets, and the blanket. placed them in the middle of the floor, something i could never do if all four kids were awake and moving around.

faster than you can say, "that really smells" i changed the bed, and just as sela was coming into the bedroom with her minty fresh teeth, i got her back into bed, said a quick prayer wth her and gave her spongebob. ah...it was tempting to linger over the kids because i do like them aLOT when they sleep, but i did have to get on with it.

i took the sheets and blanket into the kitchen and finally for the first time was able to shed light on the situation. could have been worse. took a plastic bag and scooped the vomit off the sheets. flushed it. tied the vomit bag tightly but put bleach in it first. rinsed sheets, kept them in sink. (couldn't start washer because it is next to gary and marianne's room and i didn't want to wake them up). and that was that. back to bed.

am so glad she didn't vomit on the floor.