A Freak of a Week

I’m pretty sure today is going to set some kind of record as far as weirdness is concerned. Because it’s barely 9 a.m. and it’s already been a doozy.

I was up and down all night because Cameron kept wanting drinks. First he woke up and asked for milk, then less than an hour later he requested ice water. After that … more ice water. He wasn’t complaining of anything but thirst, so although I thought it was a little strange, I gave him what he wanted.

Then, around 5:30 – about an hour after I’d given him the last cup of water – I heard the unmistakable sound of a monumental mess being made (moms can hear this type of stuff from the very first gurgle, even from a dead sleep) followed promptly by Colin shrieking, “Cameron threw up!”

Indeed he had. All over his bed and his pillow and himself. So before it was even light outside, I was dealing with the disgusting cleanup that comes along with such a fiasco. And before I was done cleaning up said mess, Cameron had made another mess – this time from the opposite end. Poor dude.

Of course, this all had to happen just as Curtis was leaving for work. And on Colin’s first day back to school after over two weeks of spring break. And it kept happening, so throughout trying to fix breakfast for the two non-sickies and getting Colin ready for school, I kept having to pause to clean something or direct Cameron toward the large metal bowl I'd given him (because there's no way I trust a newly-three-year-old to make it to the toilet in time). And then of course I'd wash my hands practically raw. I think they're actually cracking as I type this.

Anyhow, lucky for me, he managed to stop barfing long enough for us to drop Colin off at school. Colin got out as usual, and as I was getting ready to pull away from the curb I noticed two little girls giggling and gesturing toward the back of my Jeep. I didn't think much about it, because I wasn't even sure they were talking about me. But then as I picked up a little speed and started down the long, curved driveway of the school, I heard a weird, rhythmic noise.

I looked in my rearview and couldn't see anything, but the noise persisted. Then, just as someone honked to catch my attention, I happened to look out the side mirror and noticed there was something flapping. I thought something had gotten closed in the back door, until I realized that Colin had climbed up in the front to get out. When I walked around to the back tire, I saw that it was a shirt. A purple maternity shirt (or so said the label), reeking of perfume, so caught up in the fender that it ripped when I pulled it out. I hadn't noticed running anything or anyone over, so who knows how it got there?

Anyway, after the shirt thing, I continued the very short trip home. Normally it's pretty uneventful because I don't have far to drive. But not today. Because within about a minute, I started hearing a wind noise. And then I was all, "Wow, where is that air coming from?" And then I noticed that - holy effing crap - the right rear door was hanging wide open!

Now, my Jeep notifies me of everything. It even beeps when my windshield washer fluid is low. So you would think that it would, I don't know, notify me when I'm driving with the door open. But it didn't. I don't even know how the door managed to come open in the first place, since Colin got out the front.

Door closed, I warily finished the drive home, and made it with no more freak incidents. Now I've got to deal with the lovely stomach virus and all that it entails, and hope and pray that it stays confined to just Cameron. Even though I just realized, with a sinking feeling, that I had Colin drink out of Cameron's cup in the middle of the night when he asked if he could have some water too. Ugh.

Is it the weekend yet?