Would You Rather?

In the game of parenting, I'm guessing most parents would pick a mild fever over vomit. I'll take vomit any day as long as there's no fever. See, illnesses in general, particularly those accompanied by a fever put Teddy at a greater risk for seizures. Anything that weakens his immune system can also weaken his threshold for seizures. We see this most often with fevers, even mild ones.

**Disclaimer** Stop reading if you have a weak stomach. Don't read this if you're eating. Don't read this if you're about to eat. Feel free to continue reading if none of those apply. We're taking a ride on the vomit comet.

So when my mother-in-law informed me Friday night that Teddy puked, I wasn't overly concerned. (I was at work finishing a critical project, which is why I had left Teddy at my in-laws last minute after his therapy appointment.) When she said he puked his entire supper, I was a bit more concerned because that wouldn't be explained by eating too fast or playing too hard to cause him to throw up just a bit. When I had to drive home alone with Teddy in the dark along the same stretch of highway where he seized non-stop and ended up in the ICU, I was even more worried. I didn't know if his crabbiness was tiredness or because he wasn't feeling well, but he made it home with no issues.

However, as soon as he stepped inside the house, I could tell he was going to puke. And this was when I realized there's no good way to help Teddy puke, except for perhaps a bucket, which we didn't have. Poor kid. As a child, I always puked in the toilet, which I thought was gross, but sometimes the grossness of it helped me puke and then feel better. AJ pukes in the toilet, when there's enough warning of course. I'm pretty sure if we tried to help Teddy puke in the toilet, he'd lick it or stick his head in the water. So he puked partially in the sink, partially on the floor, partially on the brand new roll of toilet paper and hey, some made it on the toilet for good measure.

He was back to normal today, so the just-in-case bucket was a hat.

Then I had Dave gagging and informing me that he had to leave or he'd puke. AJ sighed and said, "I'll help clean up the puke." I reassured AJ I didn't need him to help clean up the puke, but I would appreciate a few minutes to clean it up before he showed me his prize from school that day. (I'm pretty sure I still had puke on my shirt when I saw his prize.)

We were all pretty concerned, but Teddy managed with no fever, two bouts of puking and a few hours of miserableness. As gross as it is, I'll take cleaning up half-digested hot dogs and banana chunks from a sink over a fever. Yes, my mother-in-law lied. Teddy didn't puke up his entire supper at his house. I can vouch for that.