Nov
4
My girls have recently started sleeping in their own room at night and last night was the first time Dave was home to enjoy it with me.
After five years of co-sleeping, I cannot overstate the enormity of this event.
We tucked the girls into bed, lingered in their room until the snoring started, then crept out and into our bedroom where we giggled and high-fived and jumped on the bed. We marveled at the incredible amount of space we now had, but ended up falling asleep about as close together as two people can get. We were wrapped in each other’s arms, my head nestled in that spot on his chest that I fit in so perfectly, I count it as physical evidence that we were made for each other. It was blissful. I still had a smile on my face when I woke up this morning.
But, “Mommy, I puked,” is a terrible wake-up call.
“Mmmkay,” I mumbled from beneath the covers. The meaning of the words didn’t sink in right away.
“Mom?” the quivering little voice called.
“Uh uh?”
“….”
I reached for Dave, but found Lucy instead. So much for everyone sleeping in their own bed.
“Mommy?”
I pulled the blanket back. The sun wasn’t even up, yet. I could just make out Julia’s face in the moonlight. She was sitting on the bed.
“I puked.”
“Okay,” I sat up. “It’s okay….in your bed?”
“In your bed.”
I turned the bedside light on. She had indeed puked. In my bed. And on her sleeping sister. Dave, who was barely in the bed to start with, escaped the blast. I got to work, moving the kids back to their room and cleaning the mess as this was entirely my fault. I made Julia sick. I can tell you the exact moment it came upon her:
I am such a jackass.















Oh, Leslie.
Life can just be too darned unfair sometimes.
I’m glad you had at least that little time with Dave. More time will be on the way.
It’s frustrating since he’s only home to sleep 3 or 4 nights a week to start with!
Darn universe.
I know! It’s kind of a bully.
Well that was a silly thing to say, wasn’t it?
I know, right? Me and my big mouth.
Leslie, that is terrible. Is there anything worse than cleaning vomit? I think not. And what were you thinking? You never, EVER put something like that out into the universe. I feel paranoid just typing this stuff. I had better go…..
Cleaning the vomit was bad, but Lucy…oh, poor, poor Lucy. Julia got her right on the head. It’s one thing to vomit in your own hair…
I have some friends who have a million and six kids, or maybe it’s just six of them. But one night, there was that kind of wake up call from one of them who’d climbed into bed with Mom and Dad. “Daddy, I gonna barf” is what the little guy said, so Daddy dutifully lifted him up and held him over the side of the bed so at least he could puke on the floor rather than the bed. Child vomited repeatedly. Next sound heard was the wake up cries of another child who’d crawled in during the night to sleep on the floor next to mom and dad’s bed. She said “oh, gwoss, daddy gwoss”.
And that is my bed and throw up story.
Hope everyone who never gets sick gets feeling better quick!
Oh, family life! It’s gross, isn’t it?
Hope you didn’t put other stuff out there the universe needs to prove wrong…
Maybe I need to start saying stuff like, “I never win the lottery…” Of course, I don’t think it works the other way around.
Our kids sleep in their own rooms, but when my son wakes up at night he sneaks into our bed. And then the youngest daughter wakes up and drags me to her bed. And then my son wakes up and drags me back to my bed. I can’t get a decent night sleep.
Lucy is still gets up and comes to our bed in the middle of the night, but Julia is now an all-nighter in her own room. I was beginning to think we’d never get there!
we cosleep and i can say puke in the bed is one of my nightmares, but I was totally wrapped up in your moment of bliss. Thinking, ah, it is possible. We Are doing the right thing, but it’s also not forever. ahhhhh. Everyone knows that you can never make a claim like, “we rarely get sick” unless you are all in the midst of being sick.
Even then, it’s better to say something more like, we rarely get cold, or fevers.
I’m a proponent of co-sleeping. I’m also a proponent of sleeping in your own damn bed when co-sleeping no longer benefits anyone. Because of kicking. Also, teeth grinding.
I loved having the girls in our bed. But I love having my bed back, too.
So how’s it going with the girls in their own bed? I bet you’re enjoying the space!
Hope everyone is feeling better!