Lessons in Vomit

I was just on the phone a little while ago, talking to my friend J*, about the beginnings of my blog. As I read from August 2006 and back tracking, I realized I have said less and less about my kids. One, privacy is always nice.  And necessary.  But boy, did I have some good stories back then.

Flash forward to this week...VOMIT CITY.

#3 complained of being so hungry that his insides hurt on Sunday night.  Finally, I gave in, told him to eat some oatmeal...and stayed upstairs. After a brief commotion, which I took for siblings arguing and ignored, Ken came up to tell me that E* had thrown up..in the kitchen sink.  To tell E's version "and it filled half the sink!!"

Ken, luckily for me, had cleaned it out before coming up to tell me.    I got a bucket, helped E get cleaned up, etc. etc.  My kids have RARELY had the stomach flu. If they do, it's once, MAYBE twice...and it's over. Not this time.  From 10:30pm until after 5am...he threw up.  After a while...it's really hard...and there is very little to throw up.  (Sorry, this is gross...but I AM coming to the learning part!)

FF 1.5 days...and I get a phone call to pick up #1, who threw up in Pre-Algebra.  And yes, again, 6 plus hours of the same sickness....

So at one point in the afternoon, just after he was finished praying to the porcelain god, I gently told him that if you drink too much alcohol, you get sick. So sick that you throw up.  He looks at me...and says "I am never drinking."  (Yes, we're a dry house.  And that object lesson was pretty real at the time!)

FF 1.5 days later...aka last night around 10pm...DD starts it...6 hours...through the night. Now she HATES to throw up.  So, around 2:30 am in the morning after she's just finished throwing up yet again, I say to her, "you know, when a women gets pregnant, she is often sick.  Being pregnant makes you throw up sometimes.  I threw up about once a day for nearly 3 months."  She just groans, rolls back in bed.  I continued..."So, don't plan on having babies until you are married.  Understand? And when you are married and pregnant and sick, you'll have someone there to take care of you."  Again...object lesson...learning moment.

I can't be sure that my kids will grow up and make good choices. I can only continue to teach,  remind and pray.  The scriptures say that "all trials are for our benefit."  We can learn something from trials if we look.  I'm grateful that Ken was so helpful this week in getting the healthy kids to the bus stop, or with lunches, or that "vomit filled sink."  I'm glad that I had the wits about me to bring up some learning moments...despite the messiness.  I'm glad that Ken and I have stayed healthy in the midst of all this.  Just call me around 10 am on Saturday morning...to see if Ken or I need a life lesson in vomit.