Mom moment

We had been trapped inside all day and a walk to the park was highly unlikely due to the frigid wind. So I fell back on my old stand by of just getting into the car and going somewhere.

Most of the time we end up in a drive thru or a local Starbucks. Today, I decided to do the drive thru Starbucks. I needed coffee and the kids needed to split a piece of delicious marble cake. I loaded them in the car and all seemed well.

As I drove towards my local commercialized coffee chain (hey I have giftcards!), I saw a sign for the library. I had meant to go there the other week for story time but things got hectic and I didn't make it. I wanted to know where it was so the next time I try to make it, I won't be craning my neck to try and locate it.

I followed the signs and was impressed by the size of the building. It's no Dallas Public Library, but it's a nice size. As we were leaving the parking lot and I was dreaming of my latte, I heard my daughter make some weird whines.

My daughter whines all the time, so whining is nothing new. Sometimes I think it's her way of humming. But, the whine had a strange sound to it. It was more of a whine-moan. I stopped at the stop sign and looked back in her direction. She didn't look well and said "mama?"...then she unleashed unholy hell in the back seat.

Vomit spewed from her mouth and hit the back of the passengers seat. It was all over her clothes, the car seat, the floor boards, everywhere. After she finished she looked at me and almost smiled. She looked relieved, but then, she looked down and saw the horror all over her clothes.

My daughter is genetically a neat freak. I try to hide my freakiness, but there's no denying it. You should see my lab notes, file folders etc. My daughter likes things in order and clean. When dirt gets on her hands at the playground she will stand up and wipe them off as quickly as possible or run to me, hands outstretched.

So as she looked down and saw the horrific mess she just threw her arms open and went "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Looking back I can now laugh because it was an "OH MY GOD WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!!" type of scream. My reactions were all over the place. Sweet Jesus look at all that mess! Oh my are you ok? What the hell happened? Why does this stuff always happen when your dad is out of town? Why does your brother not even care and is staring out the window?

I didn't know what to do first, so I just did what my gut said to do. Get home as fast as possible. Trying to do a quick clean up was impossible so I floored it all the way home. I got her in, gave her a bath, cleaned out the chunks from the clothes, washed myself, changed my clothes and took a deep breath.

My daughter laid on my lap all night and had no interest in eating any dinner. She's either caught a bug, or is guilt tripping me because tomorrow is her first day of playschool. If she gets sick again I'll keep her home tomorrow, but if not, sorry baby you're going to school.