Barf Buckets and Pink Eye

I came home from my fun family get-together so energized and ready to be a good mom. I got in late that night and when I went in to give my sleeping kids each a big hug, I found Brian burning up with a fever. For my first day back on the job, I was all ready to be super sicky-picky caretaker. When Brian got up early the next morning, he was thirsty and I gladly obliged, thinking all the fluids would be good for him. It was pretty early though, and without thinking, I was pumping him full of cran-grape juice. (There are lots of reasons why this was a bad idea and I didn't think of any of them in time.) We gathered to give Mark a hug good-bye before he headed off to work and Brian came toddling over too. He then proceeded to puke red juice all over Mark's khaki pants and nice shoes and my favorite night gown. Completely non-plussed, Brian looked at his empty juice cup, no doubt considered his now-empty belly, and said, "More juice, please, Mom!"

Luckily Brian got over being sick quickly. Despite my best efforts, Gracie got sick too. Unlike her messy counterpart, Gracie is great on a sick day. I put a barf bucket and a towel by her bed or the couch and she is good to go.

I thought we'd paid our dues, but no such luck. A few days later, Brian woke up from a nap with a nasty goopy eye. Sure enough, it was pink eye, and again, despite my best efforts, Gracie got it too. She missed more days of school, and unfortunately, pink eye doesn't make you want to just lay around on the couch. Still, I liked having my kiddos around for a few days. They managed to stay pretty busy and get along most of the time. Brian really misses Gracie when she's at school.

Now, if I could just get rid of Brian's continual winter runny nose. . .