Easy Illness

So, yesterday I posted about our rough weekend.  But I really would be remiss if I didn't include how much easier our kids are now that they are older.

Really, for as much as it is not fun to have every family member sick the same day... this was the first time EVER that we've had multiple children sick the same day, and we had very little crying.

In the past, when Tracey, Howard, and Caroline were sick with a stomach bug -- first of all, it would usually hit in the middle of the night.  So, it would begin with a messy bed, and a crying messy child.  Actually, it might even begin with three messy beds, and three crying messy children.  Then, these three were at such an age, that they would cry every time they threw up.  So, bouts of vomiting were not just messy and tiring... they were also loud and miserable with a bawling child.  Plus, crying while vomiting does not make vomiting any easier for the sick child.

Now, Lee Lee is still at an age where she definitely still cried when she threw up.  She would actually cry when we brought the bucket close to her.  She would push it away, and cry, "No! No! No!"  Then, when the vomiting spell was over, she would look at us and proudly say, "I threw up in bucket!"

But the three older kids -- this was the first time, there were NO VOMITING MESSES!  First of all, the illness hit everyone in the daytime, which helped and was a blessing.

But every single big kid either made it to a bucket or the toilet every time he or she needed to vomit.  Then, without crying, the child would wipe his or her mouth with a kleenex and hand the bucket over to an adult.

It really was a very new level of easy illness for us.

The fact that both Hubby and I were sick the same day, it was so wonderful that our big kids needed so little from us, and Addallee spent a large part of the day sleeping.

Again, having the entire family sick in one day is not pleasant... but to me, in the midst of motherhood with a fifth baby due soon, it was so nice to see how grown up my older kids are becoming, and to know that my children are not always going to be as much work as they were when they were younger.

Motherhood is always a lot of work, but the more independent the children become, the more my work load changes.  And in this case, I could even be sick at the same time and we all survived.