Sick day

You can't keep a good man down. Isn't that how the saying goes? That may be true, but it seems the fear of throwing up can keep even the toughest kid planted firmly on the couch.

This morning AJ didn't have much of an appetite, but other than that acted fine, so off to school he went. About an hour later I got a phone call. You just know it can't be good when you get a call that starts like this: "Hi, is this AJ's mom? This is his school nursing calling."

She went on to say that AJ had just thrown up. So I roused Sydney out of bed and off we headed to retrieve my sick kindergartner.

When we reached the nurse's office, I found him sitting with an ice cream bucket in his lap and a dazed look on his face.

"How are you doing?" I asked.

"Not so well," he answered with all the melodrama he could muster.

According to the nurse, AJ had told his teacher he had a tummy ache. He was on his way to the nurse when he vomited in the hallway. He walked into the office with a horrified look on his face and explained, "I've never done that in my entire life." (He's close to accurate on that. The only other time he's thrown up was as a toddler, so he wouldn't remember.)

Over the course of the morning his stomach seemed to settle, so I took him with Sydney and I as we set off on a couple of errands.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Driving home he threw up again. At least I'd been smart enough to pack a bucket for him, so there was little mess to clean up.

Sydney looked quite concerned as she noted, "AJ, you're leaking"

We made it home and I directed AJ to the couch to take it easy. As the afternoon wore on, he complained of being hungry, but no matter what I offered, he refused, for fear of throwing up again. I finally convinced him to try a small bowl of soup. He did so begrudgingly, but only after positioning a "throw up bucket" right next to himself.

Considering he told me that his favorite friend in school, who sits at the same table as AJ, wasn't in class today; I'm fairly certain I know where AJ caught this latest stomach bug. Let's just hope it leaves as quickly as it arrived. AJ is supposed to play in an out-of-town hockey tournament this weekend. We'll have to see if he's up for it.