Yes, it IS disgusting.
No, you would never CHOOSE to be a vomit cleaner-upper.
However, if you are a mother, chances are at some point you WILL have to clean up vomit. (I've heard of Mom's who REFUSE to clean up vomit. UH, what do you do if they puke at 9 AM and you're the only one home for the rest of the day? Do you just LEAVE IT? Nasty!)
OR, you had SO MUCH practice cleaning up your own vomit while afflicted with morning sickness it doesn't even phase you. (*Or so I've heard, not learned through personal experience.*)
I hates me some vomit.
"BUT WAIT!?", you say. "AREN'T YOU A NURSE!?"
Um. Yep. An OB nurse.
And didja know? Blowing chunks is a GREAT sign of labor! Yippee!
So, aside from the food poisoning I had when one week postpartum with Lil Chick (and that is a JOY let me tell you), I haven't done much spewing myself.
Sunday night Bubbalu came down with some lovely croup. Bark bark bark! And while he is now much better, he still has a cough.
Today Bubbalu came sauntering down the stairs when he was supposed to be napping and said he needed to talk with me. ( Polite, no? )
Apparently he had coughed so hard he vomited.
How to clean up VOMIT:
1. Forget about trying to isolate the puke-pile to only things you can see are hit. Assume EVERYTHING is tainted.
2. Assume you will touch vomit. Right when you think you've got it all your hand will land in a huge slop o' puke.
3. Wash EVERYTHING. Throw all bedding, towels, clothing etc. into the washing machine.
4. Sanitize EVERYTHING. Those handy dandy sanitizing wipes containers? Keep one in the kids bathroom. Use to wipe down floor, toilet, sink, door handles, door (don't ask), stair railings, bed frame...um, I could go on but I think you get the general idea.
5. Give kid a shower and make em brush their teeth. I combined these today and he happily scrubbed his pearly whites in the shower for at least 15 minutes. If child is old enough, that gives you time to strip the bedroom. ( I'm now wondering if he used the bar soap as toothpaste to scrub other things. Mental note to self: sanitize or replace Bubbalu's toothbrush!)
6. Set kid up on the couch with a beverage and a movie.
7. Blog about it for therapy ;)
A
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Yes, definitely NOT one of the better aspects of being a mother. But, as you point out, somewhat inevitable. Poor Bubbalu! My oldest coughed and threw up in the middle of the night three nights ago. It's even better trying to clean up when you're barely coherent from sleep deprivation! Our sheepskin rug is still out on the line, too, because it's been raining ever since I hung it out there. I confess, however, that it never occurred to me to blog about the episode. Clearly, I have much to learn. :-)
ReplyDeletebleh! I always have to choke back the urge when I'm cleaning up after the kids. You need to get some Kids n' Pets. I can't live without it. Gets vomit out of anything and everything!
ReplyDeleteI still get really grossed out with any of that stuff. It's funny to see that I'm not the only mommy who gets disgusted even when it's our own kiddos' stuff.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I would choose "one insanely impressive ginormo poopy diaper per day" if it happened when Jae was home. (He usually was available to clean those anyway when the girls were tiny ones. I'm feeling sick now.)
Fortunately, I haven't had to clean up puke yet....but I had plenty of practice with Bubbalu's spit up as a baby! What? That's not the same? Oh well. Even with all my morning sickness I almost always made it to the toilet...and when I didn't I made my hubby clean it. B/c...when you are sensitive to smells and gross looking things, cleaning up puke usually just leads to more...
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