Tuesday, June 05, 2007

The Vomit Bowl

When we were sick my mom used to park us in our beds or on the couch with a vomit bowl, sometimes a saucepan. “Throw up IN THE BOWL,” she would remind us, although I still have images of her on her knees, sopping up near-misses either in the hallway or the bathroom floor.

Does anyone else do this?

I’ve passed the torch and dole out vomit bowls when my own kids get sick, although it’s been months since anyone has thrown up, at least until Sunday. Zack woke up, ate breakfast and then informed me, “I sick. I needa bowl.” At first I just didn’t get it. “Are you still hungry? Do you want cereal?” I asked because the bowl he pulled from the dishwasher wasn’t the typical, stainless steel vomit bowl. It was a small serving bowl. “I SICK,” he said again, because I’m slow and just didn’t catch it the first time. “I needa bowl.”

I assumed that at the ripe old age of three he was already trying to get out of church (Call me Cynimom. As in cynical? I know, it was a stretch.). But he didn’t throw up and everyone went to church as planned.

Fast forward to lunch. Zack eats lunch (lots and lots of lunch) and informs me, “I sick. I needa bowl.” Again he carries the bowl through the house, leaving it empty at the bottom of the stairs. Dinner? Same thing, only this time Rich watches as Zack walks from the kitchen carrying a small ceramic bowl up by his mouth. We chuckled a bit.

Now it’s 8pm, and I have no idea where his vomit bowl went. He’s just downed a rootbeer float and is sitting on my lap, resting against my chest when outta nowhere he’s urping up twice his body weight in breakfast cereal, mini Totino’s pizza, barbequed hotdogs and macaroni salad (heh, Sunday’s a day of rest. There’s no gourmet on the Sabbath…). Luckily Daddy had just been sitting in that chair, snacking from a plastic dish of gummy worms. Voila, a vomit bowl! (Sorry, honey. Just know the gummy worms went to a good cause.)

So there goes my mommy intuition. The entire day my kid is telling me he’s sick, and I’m either 1) assuming he’s faking it or 2) “chuckling” at just how cute it is. Where’s my sackcloth and ashes? And more importantly, because the bug seems to be of the 48 rather than 24-hour variety, where's the vomit bowl?

6 comments:

Rachel said...

In my family we use a bucket, but it is much the same principle as the bowl. In fact, I like the bowl due to the portable nature of it. A bucket is oversized and clumsy... but a bowl? Perfect. I love the image of your son wlaking around with it!! So funny.

Rachel said...

Hey, thanks for the linky love... right back at ya!

lindsey said...

I saw your name on Like A Star's page and figured I would check out your blog(just in case you're thinking I am some crazy person -I'm not).

We just got over the 48 hour flu at our house. Since I am experiencing everything for the first time with my 15 month old son I really didn't think about carrying a vomit bowl around. I was trying to run him into the bathroom or at least make it to the tile floor.

A vomit bowl will make our next run in with the flu that much easier!

Thanks for the post!

GustoBones said...

Haha, I am related to like a star, so I got a bucket as a kid too. However, now I give my kids an old tupperware bowl that I never use. My son has been throwing up all week too, I can sympathize. Hope you little guy gets feeling better soon!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh...the vomit bowl...I remember the vomit bowl. I remember a night I should have had the vomit bowl. Poor mom was scrubbing all up the stairs to the bathroom for hours. love ya mom, jen

Anonymous said...

I totally had a throw up bowl when I was a kid. AND it was stainless steel too. I can't imagine using anything else! Somehow I have this funky vision of vomit bits getting stuck in the plastic of the tupperware bowls. Finally, when my mom moved out of the house that I grew up in she mailed it to me. Figured now that I have kids of my own I'd need it. So true! I use it all the time, and not only for them! My husband gets migraines and uses it too!