Day 5

Vomit.

What would a short-term single parenting experience be without vomit?

Nothing, I guess, judging by the fact that the majority of my short-term single parenting experiences include it.

Wanna hear the story?

No?

Okay then. Stop reading.

Or not.

So, I rose about fourteen thousand times last night for one thing or another. Usually Mikey handles all the night rising, but as you know, he's gone until tonight.

Twice last night, I did my somewhat regular and entirely stupid habit of waking in the middle of the night to the sound of a light wind and glancing out the window to see what appears at the time to be a fierce color of orange. This, I'm certain is a sign of a dust storm approaching. So I stumble about closing a window or two until a longer look out the window alerts me that in fact, all is normal and I am suffering from a case of middle-of-the-night dementia. Again. Then I mumble about my own repeated stupidity and crawl back into bed. (In hindsight, I'd like to say that it must have been my keen womanly instinct. Cause half a day later a dust storm has moved on in.)

Aanyway, at some other point in the night I heard one of my offspring coughing through the baby monitor. I rushed to their room and stood waiting for more sounds and none came. So I stumbled back to bed.

7:15 came and my boy woke. I wordlessly opened his mosquito net and let him climb down with his blanket in hand. He settled himself on the couch doing his normal morning reading while I went back to bed.

8 something and I went in to check on girlie. She hadn't made a peep and I wanted to see if she was awake. She was sitting there, also looking quietly at a book I had apparently left in her bed on accident. I gave her a handful of more books and left her to do her morning reading. Nothing seemed amiss.

Then I sat my drowsy bottom in an armchair wishing that someone would bring me a morning cup of coffee to open my eyes. I sat wishing this for a long time. I think I said "uh huh" a lot to something H was talking about or asking about.

I was tired.

So tired.

Awhile later I went in to get girlie out of bed.

That's when I saw it.

Vomit.

All over her bed.

All over her.

And it had been there awhile. I assure you.

Hadn't I reached in there to put the stack of books in the bed?

How did I miss the sight and smell you wonder?

Please note earlier sentence about extreme drowsiness. And the smell? That can be blamed on this stuffy nose of mine.

So after my initial shock and realization that I have no one to call in for backup, I chose not to freak out but instead methodically went about the cleaning up of the baby, the bedding, the bed, the books and the lovies.

And now, my short-term single parenting experience is complete. Thankyouverymuch.

BTW, are you seriously reading to the very end of this long post that began with the word 'vomit'?

Wow.