The Dreaded Stomach Bug: 5 Signs It's Over


Every parent has been there.  You're just sitting there being a nice, normal family experiencing what you think is nice, normal food digestion when WHAM! Your little one turns a ghastly shade of pale, gets super quiet, and blows his insides up all over the room.

You immediately begin fooling yourself, wishing, hoping, begging in vain.  Maybe it won't happen again.  Maybe it was just a one time thing.  Surely it's possible that this was a singular, thoroughly disgusting event.

But you've been to this very messy and smelly party before.  And deep inside you know.  This isn't over.  This is just beginning.  What you've got on your hands is a stomach bug and the only question now is who will fall next.

Every sloppy and sad episode leaves you pondering, for the love of all things bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, when will this end?!  You're down to your last set of sheets and your industrial supply of Clorox wipes is running low.  Every.Single.Time it happens you think, surely that's it, right?  This is over now.

And then it's not.

When you're knee deep in puke stained sheets, it's hard to see the light at the end of the digestive health tunnel but I promise you, this too shall eventually (literally) pass.

Here are 5 signs that the dreaded stomach bug is done.
  1. A minimum of 90 minutes has passed since you last started a new load of towels, sheets, and soiled PJs.
  2. Your kitchen has been used for something other than the dispensing of saltine crackers and Pedialyte. 
  3. The television is off or alternatively, broadcasting a program of an adult nature and I don't mean the X-rated variety, just the actual human actors variety.  
  4. No longer is it necessary to share the couch with a bucket and a bunch of wet spots.  
And the biggest indicator of all…

     5.  Your child resumes copping an attitude regarding his younger sibling, your ongoing and clearly inadequate care of him, or your refusal to resume above mentioned animated movie marathon.

But don't get too comfortable if you find yourself reaching all of these milestones and more.  If there is one thing I've learned in these offensive trenches, some bugs are built to last and they won't be satisfied until they've drained every last putrid drop.  

Image credit: Pixabay

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shorts Under Dresses: An Underlying Issue

Image
A friend recently relayed a story to me about her 4 year old daughter and a dress code at the preschool she attends.  Girls are required to wear shorts underneath their skirts, which is no big deal if your child goes along with the policy. In my friend's case, however, her daughter wasn't on board and it made for a very trying and tiring ordeal getting ready on school days. Getting kids fed, dressed, and out the door with a healthy meal in hand is HARD work. Having to fight over a pair of shorts under an already perfectly reasonable garment is not a battle worth waging. In order to regain calm in their morning routine, the teacher and mother discussed the conflict and came to an agreement. Her daughter could skip the shorts so long as she wore long dresses or skirts. Problem solved, right? Technically speaking, yes, the problem was solved. But it points to a much larger underlying issue that needs more illumination.  Our culture has an unhealthy relationship wi...
Read more

Three Years Today

Image
I knew this day was coming. It looms large in its approach each year. But this year, the third, was different. Even until yesterday I thought I would get through it more upbeat, more positive, more grateful than the two years before. Riding on a big emotional high will do that for you. We just got back from a long weekend celebrating the marriage of two people we hold so dear. It was, hands down, the most spectacular event I've ever had the pleasure of attending. Set on the stunning Amalfi coast. Surrounded by family. Forging new friendships with people who span the globe. Communicating without words when our languages didn't allow for conversation. Eating and drinking like royals. And, best and highest of all, witnessing the union of a couple whose love and appreciation of life and generosity to others knows no bounds. Simply put, magnifico! Prior to that I got to spend a little time with my mom and step dad, who came all the way up to our new home in Indiana to take ...
Read more

Smooth(er) Sailing

Image
                                                                                                          365 days, countless crying episodes, hours and hours and hours of reflection, thousands of words written and a few thousand more spoken, hundreds of hugs given, and yes, about a million beers ago, my dad died.  I can't believe it's been an entire year.  But as my brother said this morning, I can't believe it's ONLY been a year.  It seems like a different life. I expected this to be a long, emotional trip around the sun and it certainly lived up to that expectation. In a major way.  What I didn't expect were a multitude of silver linings.  As I find myself a lot less rough around the...
Read more