Lessons Learned From Kids With a Stomach Bug

First, the lessons:

1. You can do eight loads of laundry in one day.
2. Pillows are machine washable.
3. A "dry clean only" tag on quilts and duvet covers does not have to be followed.
4. Pedialite is totally gross.
5. Vomit is not as gross when it's your kid's vomit.

Now, the back story:

On Sunday night we got home late after a long drive home from a family reunion in Iowa. We had stopped late for dinner. We were all exhausted. Around 3 am W woke up yelling for me and by the time I got to his room he had already thrown up. I swept him into the bathroom, calmed him down, cleaned him up, and Matt took care of stripping his bed and putting his sheets in the wash. By the time he was done, W and I were curled up in our bed.

I really thought it was just the late burger that made him sick. But, around 5 am he started throwing up again. Matt and I both resumed our roles and B started calling from his crib where we found that he too had gotten sick. Another mattress was stripped and so began our day of carrying laundry baskets up and down the basement stairs.

We're pretty sure it was food poisoning. W got sick again after he had lunch and the two of them hardly ate or drank anything for the rest of the day. We stayed in the house and spent a hot Labor Day quarantined. I gave each boy his own super bubbly, warm bath. I scrubbed the bathroom. I grocery shopped and planned for this week's meals. I made a couple future dinners. And did I mention the laundry?

Things are better today. We took it slow and they both seem to have bounced back. Labor Day was a long day in our house.