Stomach Flu Bites - WARNING: This Post is NOT for the Faint of Heart!

My entire family came down with a nasty bug this week. It started on Monday night when C-Rex vomited all over me at 4:30 AM. Things went downhill from there. He developed diarrhea, but then - bizarrely - he seemed to be better on Wednesday, and we went to school without incident. After his nap that afternoon, though, he started vomiting again landing a spectacular shot right down the front of my shirt. Picture me attempting to calm a crying baby while trying NOT to toss my own cookies due to the fact that I've got a lake of vomit formed inside my bra.

It was nasty.

That night was Coio's birthday. We had cake, and she got the Barbie Mariposa (she's got wings, so she gets a green light in our no-Barbie home). She was thrilled. That night Tilo slept in the living room so his sleep wouldn't be interrupted by a sick and fussy baby (gosh, how would it be?). Coio took advantage of his absence by climbing into bed with me at some point in the middle of the night. Then at 3:30, SHE vomited all over me and the bed and everything.

Amazingly, C-Rex slept through the whole episode - the crying, "I vomited! My pants are wet! The cleaning up of the mess. The vomiting AGAIN - repeated three times. It took up much of the wee morning hours. In the meantime, Tilo told me HE was sick, and my frantic dash to the bathroom told me that I had not dodged this bullet either. We got up at 6:30.

We were all in a bad way. Coio impressed me by jumping up off the couch and darting to the bathroom twice to vomit in the toilet - making it both times. She never had diarrhea and recovered much more quickly than anyone else in the house.

Tilo and I stumbled through the day as best we could. C-Rex, who by then hadn't vomited in almost 24 hours, continued (and continues to this moment) to have unpleasantly pungent and watery diapers, but he has been remarkably cheery throughout the whole ordeal.

Everyone else is back to normal. Five by five.

FLIES!

Oh I hate them so much!

We had the whole family over yesterday for a barbecue. In a matter of a couple of hours, the doors were opened and (not) closed dozens of times, and as a result we've got an invasion of buzzing critters in the house today. Augh! With two little ones I can't spray (although I have clear memories of some pretty potent fly spray that we sprayed with abandon throughout the house when I was a kid. I probably lost several brain cells to that stuff), so I bought some of the sticky fly tape things. I got a few flies already, but the key to fly-riddance here at our house is Mr. T - the fly hunter. Crikey! Give the man a rubber band, and he can take down a half-dozen flies in a matter of minutes.

My hero!

How to Fix a Computer - A Parable on Discipline

So you've got a problem with your computer. You've tried everything. You've tried rubbing it with a feather, and you've tried hitting it with a brick. Nothing works.

Someone who knows a thing or two about fixing computers says, "Hey why don't you try these keystrokes?" or maybe offers you a book about computer repair.

NO! You insist. I'm going to fix this computer MY WAY; and you go back to the feather and the brick.

There are OTHER OPTIONS besides the feather or the brick. I'm a well-trained computer repair person. I really know what I'm doing. I've studied a lot, and I've tons of practice.

It's not that Mr. T isn't capable of repairing the computer, it's that he doesn't t know how. Why won't he let me teach him how to fix the darn thing?

___

Why is it that parenting skills are so disrespected? I'm GOOD at it. I've read tons of books and spent hours both online and IRL talking with other moms about strategies and problem solving methods. I've learned how to get an uncooperative kid to go to bed without resorting to yelling and threats (most of the time), and I know the importance of not micromanaging her eating habits. I know all of this stuff because I've worked at it for YEARS.

Mr. T seems to think that it's just a matter of personal style. The problem with this line of thinking is that it assumes that anyone can be a good parent just because they made a baby. Parenting takes work, and just like any other job there are skills one must master in order to do it well. I don't get why helpful advice from an expert in the field (if I do say so myself) is any more offensive than computer repair advice from the Best Buy Geek Squad.

But what do I know? Best I can hope for is that he'll try a different brick next time.