bad days...they're not just for grown-ups

Oh, my poor sweet Gray.

Yesterday at lunch, he announced, "I'm having a bad day." And he truly was. A myriad of little things just seemed out to get him. Mostly these things were just the typical everyday nuisances...a little brother's incessant pestering, a bite from the grumpy cat, bees buzzing within his 10-foot no-fly zone. But there were a few larger issues, too. First, it was his day to be VIP at school. Now these kindergarteners take this quite seriously. They get to bring in something special on their day (sort of a show-and-tell kind of thing). Well, both he and Mommy (shame on you, Mommy!) forgot that it was his day...so he had no special treasure to share. And secondly, and this is a big one, he peed his pants at school. Poor kid hasn't peed his pants, except for a couple of night-time accidents, since he was potty-trained a few years ago. But they were watching some sort of movie in another room with all of the kindergarten classes. And as Gray put it, "The movie just wouldn't end, and I couldn't hold it any more."

And as it turned out, things were only to get worse for the little fellow. That evening, as he was getting into his pjs (his fourth set of clothing for the day to this point), he started complaining that his belly hurt. Half an hour later, all three munchkins are settled in in the boys' room reading in their beds (they consider it quite a treat when we let them all camp out together in one room). Then Gray goes running off to the bathroom and starts yelling for Mommy. Now Bad Mommy had just sat down to relax for a few minutes for the first time all day, and was slightly annoyed that Gray could not even handle a trip to the bathroom by himself. She took her sweet time getting to the bathroom. Bad, Bad Mommy. Turns out the poor little guy had an explosive case of the runs. And though he tried to get there in time, the results were everywhere...his clothes, his legs, the toilet, the floor. Not a pretty sight! Of course a Mom can deal with all manner of bodily "messes", but the sight of a small 5-year-old boy trying not cry is enough to break a Mommy's heart.

Less than 30 minutes later, both boy and bathroom are cleaned up. Boy is dressed in his fifth set of clothing and is back in bed reading.

Another 30 minutes later, boy is sound asleep. His "bad day" is finally over. Or so we assumed.

Shortly before midnight, retching sounds penetrate Mommy's sleep. There in his bed, is poor groggy little Gray throwing up. And throwing up. This clean-up operation was a 2-person job, requiring Mommy and Daddy. Daddy got the sick fellow to the bathroom, where the toilet and floor took a second major assault that evening. Mommy cleaned up Gray's floor and stripped and changed all his bedding. By this time, Gray's belly finally decided to give him a break. So Mommy got Gray into outfit #6 and got him safely tucked back into bed, while Daddy cleaned up the bathroom.

And I'm thankful to say, that put an end to "Gray's bad day". Let's hope today's a good day...he certainly deserves it!


Quote of the day:
"There is no gift nobler on this earth than to care for those to whom we've given birth." --unknown