Friday Night "Fun"

I knew something was up when the Honker didn't eat much lunch. That in of itself isn't terribly unusual, except that it included some much-loved tortilla. And she asked for "bedtime" - though she did that a week ago, so it wasn't without entirely precedent either. I gave her a bit of Tylenol and put her down for a nap. She was up about an hour and a half later with a nasty, nasty diaper, and once cleaned up, she asked to lay back down. She slept for around another hour after that, and seemed to have better energy.

Until she wanted "Mama hold you". We cuddled for a while, and I could hear her tummy gurgling. Should have been my first clue, eh? I asked her if she needed to go potty a couple of times, and she kept telling me no. Then she sat up and hurked on me. I guess it surprised me enough that I kind of froze, instead of taking her over to the sink that was just a few feet away. Multiple hurks later, I shook myself out of the daze and we both hopped in the tub, which I think she found hilarious. I left her in there to play while I worked on cleaning the (carpeted) kitchen floor and (upholstered) kitchen chair, and started a load of laundry with our icky, icky clothes.

I just finished cleaning the floor when I heard her cry from the bathroom (it's right off the kitchen, so I felt reasonably OK leaving her - usually I do stay with her while she's in the tub, though). She'd gotten sick again. So, I put her on the potty in case she wasn't done, and started draining the tub and pulling her toys to clean. Thankfully there were no "emergencies" after that, though I kept her in a diaper the rest of the afternoon and evening and she was able to tell me once that she needed to go potty.

Keep in mind that I've been a deal nut for a while... About the tenth time I walked through the kitchen and sighed because I can still smell something yucky, I remembered that I bought a carpet shampooer a while back and it was still in the box downstairs. So, with a little help from Hubs (whom I had to awaken at 8:30PM, another sigh), I got it assembled and running. Let's hope I don't wake up tomorrow to any more icky smells!

Actually, I'm kind of hoping that I don't wake up in the middle of the night to a crying Goose and a mess to clean up, but as she's grown and evolved as a person, I've grown and evolved as a mother right along side her. Two years ago, I would have been nearly paralyzed at the thought of dealing with a sick child during the night. (It didn't help that I was consistently only getting about four to six hours of sleep during a 24 hour period.)

I'll admit it's hard knowing I am no longer able to comfort Goose by nursing her to sleep. However I know now that if she's up during the night, once her need is met, she'll go back to sleep. I know now that even if I have to get up with her multiple times during the night, God will give me the graces to deal with tomorrow on a lack of sleep, to clean up messes, to snuggle a cranky toddler, to do whatever it is that I need to do to fulfill the vocation of motherhood to which He has called me. I'm thankful that I can count on Hubs to help me out, even if it's just to snuggle Goose during the night while I am cleaning up messes. (Or during his pre-bedtime nap, if I need help with carpet shampooer assembly.)

For sure, things are put into perspective when I consider the struggles of people in Haiti right now, and many other parts of the world where day-to-day living is a struggle in of itself. If you'd like to join me in a good cry, watch this video from ABC. I don't know this couple myself, but they went to the same Nebraska college as a high school friend of mine. As a mother, I can scarcely begin to imagine what it was like for Mandy and Matt, not knowing if their nearly adopted daughter was hurt or even alive.

So, like everyone else, I will be including the victims of the earthquake in my prayers, and snuggling my little one just a bit tighter.