May 16, 2010 12:58 PM
A day in the life of a mother.
To the people sitting next to, behind and in front of me at Mass at St. Francis de Sales this morning:
Yes, I did leave suddenly after Communion with my youngest in tow. Yes, neither one of us looked very spiritual. That's because he had had an accident.
On the way home, Sophia said she thought so because she could smell it. Since Sophia was several family members down the pew from me, I can only assume that everyone in a six foot radius was exposed. And I have no idea for how long.
I guess it wasn't quite as bad as when we were attending Blue Ridge Bible Church and Jonny threw up suddenly and unexpectedly in the middle of the service.
Or 1972 when I was riding the commuter bus into my Montessori teaching job in Washington DC with 3-year-old Samantha on my lap - standing room only and no stops until DC and Samantha threw up all over me and I had to sit there with her for 45 minutes.
All in the life of a mother :)
Posted in Family, Mothering, My life | Permalink
Comments
I think that people should not be judgemental about a mom and a child leaving suddenly during mass. Any mother should know that kids sometimes have problems that are not evident to anyone else. I hope the rest of your Sunday goes well!
Posted by: Julie | May 16, 2010 3:02 PM
Sorry, I really don't mean to smile and chuckle under my breath, definitely not at your expense, but it reminds me of all of those embarrassing yet funny moments my darling boys put my husband and I through in the early days of our marriage. After I advised you to throw the evidence away this morning in the women's bathroom, I remember the time my husband had come home from a long nature walk with the boys. Everyone was laughing. Apparently, the youngest boy had had an accident and Daddy had done his best to clean him up. Sometime during the clean-up stage, he thought, "What the heck, I'm NOT going to bring home these underwear!(really, how was he going to carry them home with any sense of dignity?) To this day, we all still chuckle when we talk about those Spiderman undies that got left under the rural bridge somewhere in Loudoun County. To this day, what remains is only the elastic band.
By the way, I'm going shopping this Tuesday and I would be happy to pick up a new pkg of underwear for your youngest if you give me his size.
Posted by: Renee Corcoran | May 16, 2010 4:01 PM
You are the awesomely awesome mega-mom! I'm sure you handled it with serenity. I wouldn't worry about your fellow parishioners. The Mass truly is the ultimate intersection of the sublime and the, um, earthy.
Posted by: Anne | May 16, 2010 4:34 PM
I mean this in the most humorous way possible, but it makes me a bit relieved to see that even veteran Mommas have those moments. Mine is currently on an antibiotic that is wreaking havoc with his bowels and I've had several of those types of incidents over the last week. The most frustrating part about it is that he doesn't even care and will keep on playing.
For some odd reason I keep thinking that it's only us new moms who get to experience that. Thanks for setting me straight ;)
Posted by: Courageous Grace | May 16, 2010 11:53 PM
Mrs. C,
If the church doesn't understand then no one will.
Don't sweat it. I bet every mother that admits her faults knew what happened and was praying for you too!
Ouida Gabriel
Posted by: Ouida Gabriel | May 17, 2010 12:42 AM
We mothers are certainly reminded to be humble! Our oldest threw up almost every time we took him a restaurant from the ages of 2 - 4. Just when we'd get brave and give it another try... And he was our first so it never occurred to us to just sacrifice our dinners out for a little while. On the up side, we're very good tippers!
Posted by: Shannon Miller | May 17, 2010 1:36 AM
Oh bless your heart, Barbara! I must share my favorite tip for GI illness, though: KEFIR... A good organic kefir with lots of probiotics will help to keep the rest of the family well...It is also the first thing I give the sick person when I think they can keep something down. The probiotics help to keep the healthy people healthy... but you must be diligent. 5-7 days of drinking it. It takes great, like a form of yogurt, but the organic stuff is not easy on the budget. I probably spent about $30 on it a few weeks ago when one of the kids got sick. Another child threw up once, but that was it for our family of 6. Not bad.. and usually the rest of us avoid it entirely if we drink our kefir... but we got a cold virus in the midst of the flu...
Posted by: Lisa | May 18, 2010 2:50 PM
