Pre-Vacation Jitters No. 2

The story continues. I think you can see where this is going...

Just as I began to drift back to sleep, Jonah was at my bedside again, this time complaining about the taste of the lozenge. A few years of motherhood had taught me that very little rational discussion or thought occurs in the dead of night and that sometimes you just have to humor your little night owls in order to achieve a few moments of precious sleep. I held out my hand and let him spit the lozenge into it.

Gaining more lucidity by the second, I started to wonder if Jonah might be nervous about our big trip. “My tummy feels funny mommy.” Jonah complained.

Yes, that was it! Butterflies. I’d experienced similar “funny tummies” as a child before big car trips. I was certain Jonah was having the same feelings. “Don’t worry sweetie, go back to bed and you will feel better.”

Jonah acquiesced without his characteristic stubborn streak making an appearance. I tried not to pay attention to this anomaly and headed back towards my warm bed. As my head hit the pillow, a flash of inspiration that can only be attributed to a mother’s sixth sense came into my head: I knew this would not be the last time I was up tonight, however more than that, I knew that a little later I would be cleaning up vomit.

Whether it was wishful thinking or just stubborn idiocy, I pushed the vomit idea out of my head and tried to quickly settle back to sleep. The next sound I heard was Jonah throwing up in his bed.

No cheetah pouncing on an unsuspecting gazelle on the Serengeti could match the reflexes of a drowsy mother going to catch vomit in the dark of night. I doubt my husband even felt the slightest shift in the mattress as I leapt to the floor and covered the length of the hall to Jonah’s bedside in what seemed like 2 or 3 agile, elongated steps.

My apparent superpowers did not stop with speed and agility. There was an unnatural clarity to my thoughts as instinct took over. Even as my bare feet grazed wet chunks on the carpet, I worked with efficiency and decisiveness, first removing Jonah, now finished with his “cookie tossing” to the dimly lit bathroom. After removing his pajamas and shaking off the chunks in the toilet, I quickly started my first load of laundry and proceeded to run a warm bath for my sick little boy.