Stairway Fun and Clean Floors

Julia loves the stairs. She loves to go up one stair, turn to make sure I'm watching and then dart as fast as possible up them while giggling hard.  I always come behind her and stay with her and tickle her as she goes up.  She loves it.  Then we come back down again and repeat it.  Super fun.

Yesterday Riley kept telling me that her mouth hurt.  That her throat hurt.  With strep going around, I wasn't too excited about the thought.  So I had her drink some water.  She finished her breakfast consisting of a very healthy meal of two Eggos with syrup.  Still said her mouth hurt.  I asked if her tummy hurt, but she said "No" each time.

We were planning a playdate with the neighbor during the ice storm and she was going to walk over after lunch.  Around noon, Riley walked herself to her room and lay down in her bed with her nightlight on.  She told me she wanted to rest.  I was trying to figure out why she would just lay down.  So I asked her if she was ok.  She said she just wanted to rest.  I asked if she wanted to come downstairs and have some oatmeal and see if we could help her get settled.  She finally was convinced and walked to me.

I picked her up to carry her downstairs.  We got about four stairs down when she leaned a little away from me and threw up.  All over me.  Then all over her.  Then down our stairway.  And the walls.  And the railings.  And through the railings.  And on the furniture below that was between the railings.

I waited before walking forward - just stunned and trying to figure out what to do.  So when she had a pause, we went to the kitchen.  There was nothing ready and available to help (as we have kid proof locks that require magnets to open  and those are stored in the upper cupboards).  Left no time to do anything productive.

So she got sick on the floor in the kitchen.  Took a few steps forward.  Got sick again.  Repeated this a few times until the kitchen had its share of the fun.

And when she finished, she looked at me and said very sweetly "Mom, it's on my hand.  And it's on my toe.  Please clean it."  To which I said, "I'm doing my best and I'll get it honey."

I grabbed some washcloths to clean her first and changed her clothes quickly. Then got out three bowls - all three because they were the only bowls we had that would work.  And had her lay on towels on the couch to rest.  So with her cleaned up, I started cleaning the floor in the kitchen.  Then changed my clothes, sprayed the stairway with Resolve and began the cleanup on the walls, banister, railings and furniture below.

After all was relatively clean, I got out my Lysol and my mop.  Julia continued to eat Cheerios and smile happily throughout the entire hour I spent cleaning.  Riley actually took some Pedialyte and said she liked it.  But refused it again after getting sick again.

I didn't get a lunch until after 2pm and had a hard time finding something that didn't turn my stomach after watching the current events.

I'm sure she'll love that I shared this story.  But it will just remind her that even bad things happen to good people and it's all in your attitude as to how you handle your circumstance.  And that it's all in the day of being a Mom who loves her girl and will do whatever it takes to make her feel loved and taken care of.