Proper Attire

All 4 of my boys play soccer. Of the four, 3 of them are fanatics. Isaac is the boy who is the least interested in soccer. He plays, he likes it, he has fun. But, if the truth be told...it's all about the snacks. He endures the game for the treat at the end.

This week as he was preparing for one of his games Sam gave him some advice.

Sam: No, Isaac (said in an exasperated voice) you can't wear those shorts.

Isaac: (looking at the shorts he's had on all day, the khaki shorts with all the pockets that he probably has stuffed with lego guys and sticks) Why?

Sam: (again, exasperated) If you wear those shorts it looks like your mom and dad don't even care about soccer.

Apparently, Sam's idea of getting ready for a game is much different than Isaac's.

Standard Protocol

We're operating under the Standard Puke Protocol effective...now.

Level two has been reached.

What? Yes, I know it's 3 am.

See, here, when someone is sick (of the vomit variety) we have certain steps we take to avoid...what's the word I'm looking for? Oh yeah, disaster.

Hayden just brought little Isaac downstairs and informed me of the situation upstairs.

"Isaac puked."

Me, in a stupor, trying to wrap my brain around the Who, What, When and Why of the moment, then got the whole story.

Isaac was sleeping on the couch in Hayden's room and threw up all over it. I went upstairs to clean it up while he supervised Isaac in the bathroom.

"My room, why does this always happen in MY room?" Hayden asks.

Then he ponders... "I guess that's better than in theirs."

This winter, we did a bedroom swap.

Hailey moved downstairs, Griffin moved into his own room, Sam and Isaac had the bunkbeds set up in their room and Hayden stayed right where he was...has always been, pretty much with the exception of a few months trial, the room he has always been in, since he was 2.

About 3 days after that, the little boys started dragging their mattresses into Griffin's new alone bedroom. A few days after that, we just moved them all back in together and left the skeleton of the bunkbed standing in what now has become "the toy room".

But 3 boys in one bedroom makes for a tight fit, and Hayden was right, it would have been disaster to have this happen in there.

Taking into account how I felt last night, I considered it an epidemic making Standard Puke Protocol necessary. SPP involves getting everyone under the age of 12 downstairs and settled on sheet lined couches and chairs. We have only one bathroom and it is located here. Everyone else gets a puke bowl and a briefing.

It makes my life so much easier.

When, sometimes, mom's get together and swap parenting moments, I always win with this certain story...

I won't go into all the detail but let's say it involves two tiers of the bunkbed, (mattresses and frames) the window, the curtains and a under bed storage bin of Beanie Babies.

I'd love to hear yours!


Back to sleep with one ear open...