Spending time with friends and family can lead to fun and memorable moments, but also some very messy ones. One messy moment I will always remember occurred in 2006.
Picture with me. {insert wavy flashback lines}
A younger me, 2nd trimester pregnant with my third child, seated at a table in a Mexican restaurant in El Paso. Also at the table are my in-laws, husband, 1 year old son, 2.5 year old son, and husband's uncle and aunt. This was our last night in Texas after spending the previous week celebrating the life, and mourning the death, of my husband's grandmother.
{Camera focuses on our table}
My 2.5 year old starts coughing. Not quiet, clear-my-throat coughs. Noooo. These are hacking, gagging, hear-you-across-the-restaurant coughs. Oh joy.
We had already ordered so I didn't want to leave; truth be told my pregnant-self had been looking forward to that meal all week! At that time the closest thing to a Mexican restaurant in Rhode Island was Taco Bell. It's just not the same thing, folks.
So I took William out of his high chair and set him on my lap facing me. With a wall behind us I just prayed his coughs would be muffled and not bother the other customers.
Then IT happened.
William coughed one more time, gagged, and proceeded to throw-up grilled cheese sandwich down the front of my shirt. Being the experienced mom that I was I bolted from my seat, thanking God I am at the end of the table and that our waiter had seated us right beside the bathroom.
I'll spare you the details and just say that my mother-in-law is the BEST EVER! She helped clean up William, me and the bathroom without being asked. A mother-in-law that cleans up vomit in public, yeh, she's PRICELESS!
You would think I would go back to the hotel after that but, no. Our meal had just arrived. So Will and I resumed our place at the table and everyone ate a little quicker. Until the coughing started again.
Then IT happened. Again.
Two year old vomit all down the front of my shirt, for the second time. sigh. I cleaned us both up in the bathroom. By now everyone else had finished their meals and ordered dessert. Surely the boy's stomach was empty, I thought. So I raced 3 buildings down the street to our hotel, changed my clothes and raced back so I could finish my now-cold tacos. I seated myself, took Will from my mother-in-law and began eating.
Then IT happened. Again.
Sometimes it takes me awhile to learn a lesson. In this instance it took my son vomiting down my shirt 3 times for me to learn to take vomiting children home, or in this case, to the hotel. Even if your pregnant, Mexican-food-craving-self tries to tell you to do differently. This is a life lesson I strongly recommend you learn through my experience!
It was messy. Memorable. And now, nearly 6 years later, hilarious. But I don't want to ever do it again! Would you?!
Be sure to like Stephanie's Mommy Brain on Facebook where I share frequently share messy and embarrassing moments from my life as a mom.
I received information about Clorox’s Bleach It Away campaign and am sharing my messy moment for the chance to win prizes from The SITS Girls. To learn more about the messy moment program, check out www.BleachItAway.com. Sharing your story on the Clorox fan page gets you entered for the chance to win $25,000 and daily prizes, and you can grab a coupon for Clorox® Regular Bleach.
2 comments:
Ok. Wow. Yeah.
And your mother-in-law IS priceless!
What I didn't mention is that we had been in El Paso for about 5 days. The second day there *I* got sick after our take-out pizza dinner. I was early 2nd trimester pregnant and hadn't thrown up for weeks but thought the stress of travel, lack of good sleep, and emotions were just bringing back "morning" sickness. Apparently not.
I should also say, if you tell your Southwest airlines stewardess that your son was vomiting the night before and your other son looks like he might go at any moment, you will get awesome service!
The day after arriving home hubby started vomiting. And we heard a few days later that the aunt and uncle from the restaurant were caring for their grandchildren because the parents BOTH had it and couldn't function for 2 days.
Yep. Nothing says, "Nice to meet you family!" like sharing a vomit virus.
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