Today was a big day...
- it was his last day before vacation
- it was his class party
- it was his first class party in several years (since we homeschooled 3rd and 4th grades)
- it was a free dress day and he had on his new Christmas shirt
- it was our annual visit to the Riverwalk Cafe at the Gaylord Texan for a family celebration of my birthday
- it was our chance to see ICE! at the Gaylord
So, when they left, I took care of the little guy. I fed him and was getting ready to put him down for a nap foolishly assuming that I had from 8ish to 11:15 a.m. to finish putting the boys' teachers gifts together, make and decorate 2 pans of brownies into reindeer for Josh's class party that I was going to be joining him for. I thought that I would just be done with everything in that time and be ready to enjoy our time off together. Josh's party was 11:30 - 12 and Drew got out of school at 11:45 so it would all just work out like a finely tuned machine, right?
But you know what happens when you ASSuME, right? Yeah... the ole Murphy's Law gut check comes back like Montezuma's revenge!
The phone rings at 8:35 a.m.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Mrs. Driggers?"
"Yes?"
"This is Mrs. Worsham, the school nurse. Joshua is in my office having just thrown up. He doesn't look good at all. His face has no color and he is just pretty miserable."
"Let me get changed and I'll be on my way."
Ben had been asleep all of 2 1/2 minutes. There goes the morning nap. Grrrr. I load him in the car, grab the gifts I'd made for the special area teachers and faculty and get on the road. He doesn't sleep on the way. Of COURSE not, that'd at least get him a nap in. Once I pulled into the drive at the school, I scoop him up and walk into the office and get "the look."
THE LOOK?
You know what look! The "bless your heart" look. Why? Because they know all too well what it's like taking care of a sick child on a day like today. Yes, I got the "bless your heart" look so at least I knew someone out there was feelin' my pain!
While we were at the school, I went ahead and delivered the special area teacher gifts I made (computer, Spanish, PE, art, etc.) The gifts came out quite cute, I must admit! I bought a dozen pint size jelly jars at Wal-Mart, a red velvet cake mix, some cream cheese icing and some Christmas fabric. What'd I make? A cupcake-in-a-jar! You squish in a cupcake, pipe in some frosting, squish in another cupcake and top with more frosting and then pop on the rim, then a piece of fabric, then screw on the lid. I attached a plastic spoon with a Christmas ribbon and it's a ready-to-eat treat that was a beautiful presentation! The red velvet really made it Christmas-y!
Once those were all delivered, we headed home. I had Josh sitting in the passenger seat so that I could keep an eye on him. Initially, he said that he felt lots better and was laughing about how he was in the bathroom in school and told his friend, "I'm about to get sick and if you don't want to hear, I suggest you leave." So, I was thinking maybe it was just something he ate. However, the further from school we got, he really didn't look that well. Call it a mother's intuition -- I reached into the diaper bag behind his seat and pulled out one of those disposable bags that you put dirty diapers in so that they don't stink up the place should you happen to change one when you're not near a trash can. He was like, "What's this for?" I said, "Just keep it in case you need it." I unlock the windows and roll his window down a little to give him some cool air on his face.
Now, since I hadn't eaten (although I had gotten up to make breakfast for everyone else) I decided to stop at Sonic for something to eat since it was on the way home. He wanted a drink, I got a breakfast sandwich and a Route 44 unsweetened peach tea (my favorite!)
We pull out of Sonic and are back on the road home. He shifts a little in his chair. I get on the phone to call to let people know that we're going to cancel our plans for the evening... the Gaylord was off. I'm bummed, indeed.
I get on one phone call and what happens? Yeah, you guessed it. He starts to puke again and again. I laugh and think "maybe the smell of Sonic IS bad for you."
I just keep thinking to myself, "Thank God I gave him that bag!"
We get home and he hold up the bag of barf and says, "That's ALL? I thought I puked more than that."
GROSS!
"So, what do I do with it?"
"Dump it in the toilet, roll up the bag and place it in the garage in a trash can."
Again -- DOUBLE GROSS!
I come home with a sleepy cranky 8 month old, a sick 11 year old, unfinished teacher gifts on the counter, two pans of brownies to finish and now the timing of it all SUCKS! While I switch into panic mode, Josh settles on the couch for some serious vegging out and pops in Despicable Me. He sleeps off and on for the next four to five hours... followed by a trip or two to the bathroom to refund whatever it was that was in his stomach.
Poor kid.
However, he must have felt better because while I was in the kitchen after the movie was over, he was watching reruns of "Sanford & Son." I can hear that stupid jingle now. Boy that was a dumb show... funny... but dumb. Shows like that would never make it now adays.
The brownies are finished, cut, decorated. Sixteen little reindeer friends all staring at me on a platter. I feverishly attempt to package the teacher's gifts but I realize that there is just no way. There is no way. I call Josh's room mom, tell her I'm on the way and ask her to meet me outside to bring the tray to the party. She does. I drop off the brownies at 11:25 and then head to the pick up line to get Drew from school at 11:45. Thankfully, Ben sleeps the entire time. That was his 20 minute nap of the morning (it's usually over two hours) -- yeah, I see where my night is headed. I scoop up Drew, grab him some lunch and head home... immediately e-mailing the teachers trying to explain how my Friday didn't pan out the way it was supposed to.
Drew gets home and tells me his ear hurts. His EAR HURTS? SERENITY NOW!! I call Andy and tell him that he has to help out today. I've got the big one sick, I don't want to take the little one to the doctor's office.... NO WAY! Luckily, my father in law comes to take Drew to the doctor's office for a 3 o'clock appointment. They come back around 4:40 pm with a prescription that was called in - just in case - because while it looked a little pink, it wasn't infected. However, to be sure, over the weekend if it became painful, we had a prescription waiting on us. Finally, some good news!
It was a doozy of a day indeed. I was truly bummed out about our evening together at the Gaylord being canceled as we'd all been really looking forward to it. I wasn't going to let Josh know that I was so bummed out because it's not his fault he was sick. But after Ben's missed morning nap... he was a real piece of work. In face, he and I BOTH went to sleep at SEVEN o'clock. Yeah, he wouldn't have lasted there a minute.
Perhaps this was all just supposed to happen this way to save us from great disappointment. Why? Because when I called the Gaylord to cancel our reservations, they told me that the Riverwalk Cafe IS NOT the Riverwalk Cafe anymore but is the Riverwalk Cantina and it's a Mexican restaurant now. There is no buffet any longer! WHAT THE ???? I'd booked that reservation SIX WEEKS IN ADVANCE and was going on and on about how that's our family tradition for my birthday and the boys just loved the chocolate fountain and blah blah blah. Not once did anyone mention that it wasn't a buffet or that it wasn't even called the same thing. Nothing! I would have been extremely disappointed to have Mexican food when I was wanting something SPECIAL!
So, yes, I think that saved me some great disappointment in the end. We had Chinese take-out. Bah humbug!
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