SICK

Everyone gets sick. It's always a pain. It's really special in a large family though. Sickness usually creates a memorable experience for us simply because of how many of us there are to catch whatever it is that's going around. Last night I think it was just some bad food. It hit me about 9:30 pm. After two trips to the toilet, I decided I'd better head to bed. I almost made it there when we heard a crying child and sure enough, sick person #2. Naturally, he didn't make it to the toilet. After getting him a bowl, cleaning the mess and getting new bedding situated, we decided we'd better check on the other kids. Peter went downstairs while I took another trip to the bathroom. When Peter didn't come back, I went down too. The two oldest were both huddled on the couch in towels. Peter had already showered them off because they were such a mess and was working on all the clean-up while they waited with bowls in their laps. We collected all new bedding, helped them get on fresh pajamas and then went to start the laundry. We finally got in bed, but not to sleep. The baby inside of me was kicking and punching like crazy and I continued to heave another 4 or 5 times before finally settling into some rest. Peter got up with a sick child at least once and then he dozed off too. It could have been so much worse. Thankfully, the two youngest of the family were untouched and Peter himself never got sick and was able to care for everyone else. Also, and this is big, we all slept the rest of the night and we're fine today. Hurray! A very memorable night, but thankfully short-lived!