Sick...AGAIN?!?!

Bleary-eyed and stumbling, I make my way across the hall to the sound of my daughter yelling my name.  It feels as if I had just fallen asleep. Not quite.  It has been two hours.  Or so the clock said. 

“I’m gonna throw up,” she cries from her top bunk.  I scan the room, half awake, trying to find something to use to catch the vomit that was sure to escape her lips soon. 

I dump the toys out of a cloth bin…thinking it could be washed easily later. My mind is still fuzzy.  I’m not awake.  She threw up.  And I realize this container will not hold its contents for very long. Yeah. Too tired. Scanning again I spot an upturned plastic bucket for Barbies. Yes!  That’ll work.  I set the cloth bin on the floor and hold the plastic bucket up in front of her pale face.  Poor kid.

She’d already been through this once this school year.  Not again!! She’s finished and I grab a baby wipe from the drawer and wipe her mouth. I toss the wipe into the bucket. I’ll take care of that later.  I’m too tired. 

I tell her to climb down and sleep on the bottom bunk so it will be easier to reach the bucket if she’s sick again.  She climbs down easier than I think she will.  She crawls onto the bed. I pull the covers up around her shoulders and tell her to go back to sleep. Sleep is hard when your tummy hurts.  But that’s what she needs.

I trudge quietly and slowly up the stairs with the cloth bin in hand.  I’ll have to take care of this right now or it will be ruined.  I rinse it a couple of times and turn it upside down on the sink to drain.  That’s all I can do for now.  I’ll have to clean it thoroughly later. 

Back into bed I climb and pull the blanket around myself; trying to relax.  Sleep finally comes…only to be interrupted again with the screaming of a little girl.  “MOMMY,” she cries from her bed.

Sick again.  I hold her hair out of the way, while leaning my sleepy head on the top bunk.  She’s finished and I wipe her face again. 

My legs carry me slowly and awkwardly back to bed.

My bed isn’t as comfortable now with my lack of sleep.  I toss and turn before finally going to sleep again.  It doesn’t last.  Her crying reaches my ears again and I pop out of bed.  Quickly…before she gets sick on her blankets…I rush to her side.

She’s getting better at keeping it in the bucket, thankfully.  I wait for her to finish, holding her hair out of the way.   Wipe her face and slide my feet across the floor as I make my way back to bed. My feet know the way better than my brain does right now. 

I want to cry.  I’m so tired.  But I’m too tired to cry.  So I lie back down and curl up on my side.  The warm blanket wraps around my shoulders; bringing some comfort.  I wonder if I will be able to fall asleep again.  And then I realize I slept because I’m waking up again to the sound of Alyssa saying my name.  Not again! 

I hurry to her side.  Hold her hair. Wipe her face. Back to bed. 

I’ve lost all track of time.  I close my eyes and hope for sleep. 

It’s 4:55 and my alarm is going off.  Sigh. The morning begins. While I’m making breakfast for my older boys Alyssa comes up the stairs, bucket in hand, crying.  She doesn’t feel well again.  She asks me to put her hair up and hands me an elastic. I pull her hair up quickly and she sits on the dining room floor…holding the bucket.  Being sick is just CRAPTASTIC!

I usually sleep for 45 minutes after the older kids go to seminary, but today there is no sleep.  Every few minutes Alyssa calls my name to tell me she doesn’t feel well.  Her tummy hurts. 

I’m so half-awake today and wishing for a nap, but now Cassie is awake and Alyssa is up too.  Sometimes there’s no rest for the weary.  I’m thankful that Todd is off tonight.  That means I can crash later and he’ll help.  This too shall pass…