Livingroom / Nursery / Sickroom

Warning: In the trenches Mothering post ahead. Not for the weak willed.

As I was trying my best to grab some sleep on the living room floor last night it came to me that we use the living room for a lot of things. Of course one of the reasons this is so is because the house is so small almost all the rooms have at least two jobs to fulfill; The kids rooms act as their play rooms as well, the dining room is also our mudroom and homework area as well as where we keep the cat's food and water(and probably the new puppy's crate when we get it), the basement is our hardest working area of the house split into storage, J's workroom, our bedroom, the laundry room, the computer area and a reading video area.

The living room though has been everything and then some. We sleep there play there eat there and gather there as a family to talk or watch TV or read. When M was little it was her nursery and I would make the couch into a bed for myself with a sheet blanket and pillow every night(the basement was too cold). Her bassinet was there and I changed her diapers there on the floor in the night before I nursed and sent her off to sleep. It was also where I would call J from when I couldn't deal with her any longer and needed a break.

Why was I on the floor thinking about stuff like this? I was there because last night and today it is serving as sickroom. Yup we have a stomach bug in the house. A had it on Saturday(and C if you're reading this I'm sorry I didn't mention it to you before you watched A & M yesterday he was fine by then and I had honestly forgotten) but was fine by Sunday. Last night M was complaining that her tummy hurt...I figured I was in for a long night and I was.

I went to bed about 10pm tired from a busy day, and K woke me up at 11pm with M in the bathroom covered in puke(M not K) M needed a bath, which I gave her while she shivered and shook(yes the water was warm enough - you try waking up with puke all over you and see how good you feel). I then got her settled in a nest on the couch and gave her a puke bowl. I tossed her Giaffee(said Jaffee - it's her comfort toy, she's the only one of my three kids to have one) in the wash since he was puke covered as well. We watched a little TV, or rather she did and I read sitting on the sofa with her(thanks for the book C, it is funny!). After a while she was tired so I calmed things down and put some music on the TV instead. Then I was tired and had to make up a bed with chair cushions and throw pillows and a blanket on the floor. I was up a lot, emptying out the puke bowl and comforting her as best I could. I saw the clock say 1am, 3, 3:15, 3:40, 4:48, and 5am then I got J up and went to bed for a couple hours. He's calling into work today so he can take A to an eye appointment(we already bailed on it once we can't again) I am deeply grateful for his help.

Of course today I have to deal with M's bedding(I put it outside to freeze, hoping it would be easier to shake off the clumps of puke) and the huge amount of laundry this is turning into, poor Giaffee has been washed twice now. Man I hope we all don't end up with this!!

Cass - Mommy in the trenches.