[/caption]On Monday the baby was a bit cranky. You know the cry at the drop of a hat type of cranky that makes you roll your eyes and blame it on teething? That kind of cranky.
As she climbed atop her leather recliner while we tried to eat dinner we rolled our eyes in exasperation and told her to sit on her bum for the millionth time. Then she puked while her dad fed her dinner. She puked with the vengeance of a grown adult while her and her father shared a look of shock and horror. And she didn’t stop until five hours later.
This is our first bout with the flu. Aside from when she was a five month old and threw up for weeks on end, we’ve been lucky to only have experience with an occasional stuffy nose. One thing is certain, we’re not in the luxurious baby puke land anymore. We’ve stepped up to the big leagues and dude, it’s gross.
Here’s this little toddler so sick she can barely hold her head up, yacking all over your floor. Just when you think you’ve figured out a system she surprises you and yacks all over your shoulder and herself because she’s scared and wants to snuggle. It was definitely one of the saddest situations I’ve ever encountered, right up there with the homeless man with a 2-legged dog I once saw in Las Vegas.
We rallied and soldiered through the restless night. The puked on towels and blankets have been run through the washer, the floors mopped and the baby given the most thorough bath of her life. As far as the flu goes, we got lucky. It was quick and happened early on in the evening, no fever and she was more than happy to drink her fluids and eat some crackers once the worst had passed.
We snuggled, watched ungodly amounts of television and only left the couch for sustenance the following day. As I rocked the exhausted, clingy baby and gingerly stroked her hair I felt an overwhelming sense of purpose. There’s nothing like a stomach curling run in with the flu rendering your child helpless to make a mother feel needed.
And now, if you’ll excuse me I am off to curl up in a ball and pretend like snuggling with the virus itself for an entire day and night did not, in fact pass it on to me.
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