If you're squeamish, don't click through here.

Oh. My. Word. It's midnight and I'm having trouble sleeping. I struggle with panic and anxiety. I'm praying for emotional healing there. But, in the mean time, there are certain things that hit my panic buttons. Throw up is one of them. (This was a problem for me in the past, but it got so much worse in 1998 when I was terribly ill in China.) Just the thought that one of my kids might be sick can send me over the edge. Well, today was horrible...and great all at the same time.

7 sat on the living room floor after dinner and complained about a headache. I told him not to shake his head, because his brain didn't need to be bouncing around in there. He cuddled up on the couch next to me while I checked my emails. I kissed the top of his head and he didn't even wipe it away. He went down the hall to play in his room and about 1 minute later, he was standing at the end of the hall (right where I could see him from my vantage point on the couch). He said, "Mom, I know why my head hurt, I just threw up." And as he spoke those words, vomit sprayed from his mouth. I told him to run to the bathroom quick. He did...but threw up many more times on the way. It took me & M forever to clean it all up. He covered his bed, and we had just changed the sheets. There were 2 spots on the bedroom floor. One spot at the end of the hall. And a giant pile by the door to the bathroom (where the vacuum happened to be sitting and the unwound cord was right in the pile). Then the entire bathroom floor was covered. He eventually did throw up in the toilet, but not for another 30 minutes or so.

Now for the good part. I didn't completely freak out. I won't say I enjoyed myself. But, in the past I've come so unglued that I had to walk out into the back yard for fresh air. I would ring my hands and rock back and forth. I would be having an all out panic attack. Today I didn't! I'll claim that as a victory even thought it's after midnight and I'm still not able to go to sleep. I fixed a glass of 7up with a straw for 7. I got M a bucket and paper towels and a spatula for the carpet. (If you've never thought of this before, a spatula picks up big pieces quick. I also have used a spatula when the kids spill yogurt on the kitchen floor. It squeegees the floor and then I can grab a rag and cleaner.) I loaded the washer with the bedding. M scooped up the majority of the mess on the carpet. Then I used the floor cleaner to pre-treat those spots while M moved on to clean the bathroom mess. After about 1 1/2 hours of cleaning, we put 7 in the bath to clean off himself. He was feeling 100% better when he got out of the tub so I'm wondering if he was allergic to the rice in our soup. He's never really liked rice. M continued with the carpet cleaner and I took a bag of trash over to the school dumpster (I didn't want that smell hanging around). Then I used bathroom cleaner on the bucket. I used a bleach solution on the cord to the vacuum. I changed the load in the washer. I put a blanket on 7's bed for him to lay on top of and then a towel over his pillow. I took 5 to brush her teeth and get in her jammies in my bathroom. (8 was with my mom so he missed this event.) Once the kids were settled I went in to clean the toilet and the bathroom floor. When I finished with that M was praying with the kids and telling them good night. Then I moved on to use comet to clean the kitchen sink. I ran the dishwasher with everything from dinner and the strainer I'd used to bleach some toys and the spatula from the carpet. I started another load of laundry and then I mopped the kitchen floor (I was convinced that our feet that were walking on the yucky carpet had tracked germs into the kitchen.) It was after 11 when I finished with the floor. 7 had thrown up around 6:15. I'm too anxious to go to bed, but I'm trying to focus on the victory I had in being able to be the Mom. I am SO THANKFUL that this didn't happen yesterday when we were driving home from Napa. This would have been disastrous in my car. I'm praying that this was some fluke and not a bug that we'll all pass around now.

If anyone has actually read this...you deserve an award. I so wouldn't have read this. It would have made me panic. ;0) I think it's TMI, but I had to post this for myself. If you do happen to read this...pray for our health around here. This was a bad bug and it really hit out of no where. I'm praying that it doesn't hit the rest of us. And, I'm wondering if I need to have 7 allergy tested. Ok...it's almost 1am. I'm going to knit since I'm up...and I think I just heard the dryer buzz.