Blech

Since Brandon has been begging me to take him and Amanda on a hike, I fully intended to do so on my days off, which are Wednesdays and Thursdays. This allows us unlimited time together, wandering the mountains of Boulder, pretending to see dinosaur bones in the shapes of downed tree limbs and unearthed rocks. We love to shriek in delight at the T-Rex teeth, the Stegosaurus spikes, and the Brachiasaurus necks that seem to litter the Front Range.

But alas, I awoke Wednesday morning with an upset in my stomach...enough of an upset that first thing upon waking, I ran to the bathroom and completely purged the evidence of the chicken sandwich I ate the night before. I'm convinced it was food poisoning, as I have experienced this very Burger King grilled chicken sandwich vomiting merriment in the past. I once held a nine-year vomit-free stint until an untimely pairing with a tainted sandwich drove me face-first into the crapper. You'd think I would learn my lesson, but they're just so darn tasty!

So Wednesday was spent on the couch, mainly sleeping and trying my best to discourage Krakatoa from erupting from my bowels. It's a good thing Brandon can take care of himself, because I have no idea what he did that entire morning. I was just glad that when I awoke he was alive and the house was still standing.

I somehow managed to scrape myself off the couch to retrieve Amanda from school which was amusing in and of itself. I was completely dehydrated - I had to sit on my haunches while awaiting her class to exit the building, as I was unable to remain vertical. I just couldn't do it. When Amanda saw me she instantly knew that things weren't OK, and she put her arm around me in an attempt to help me get to the car in one piece. What a little helpy-helperson she is! We ran to the gas station where I gulped half a bottle of Gatorade before even paying for it, and headed home where I could escape to the couch once again. Sleep was my friend, and we became even closer when Dave came home. He and the kids cleaned up the house and let me sleep some more, 'cause that's all I was able to do at the time.

Thursday Amanda awoke with symptoms of the croup, so we all hunkered down together for a day of rest. While my stomach was considerably calmer, I was still very tired. I slept half the day away while the kids magically took care of themselves. I'm grateful that Brandon is able to climb to the top of the refrigerator, retrieve the loaf of bread, get the Goober Grape from the cupboard, and make himself a sandwich. Otherwise, he'd still be waiting for lunch. I don't know what Amanda ate, but since she's still alive I imagine she scrounged up something.

I don't get sick very often, but I'm relieved to know that when I do, the world doesn't fall off its axis. I'm proud of my kids for taking the initiative to do what needed to be done...they let me heal, they took care of themselves, and they remained alive and uninjured. I remind them often that one of my biggest, most important jobs as a parent, is to make sure they can take care of themselves. These past couple of days showed me that I have done a swell job - if a four-year-old can make himself a Goober Grape sandwich, he can do anything. :)