Our little DevilBoy. Yes, it is apparent that this photo does not do his devlish-qualities justice. Take my word for it.
Last night I had the pleasure of a late-night one-on-one with my five-year-old whom we affectionately call “DevilBoy.”
This little action-packed character fills our days with his antics and delights us with his, well, devilshness (is that a word?!), so when he slows down for any reason, it’s clear that he’s sick.
For the last few days, he’s had a bout with the stomach bug, and I’ll try to spare you from the gorey details but let’s suffice it to say that his barfdom as I picked him up from kindergarten Friday put him in “fame status” at school according to his big brother.
We thought we were over this lovely visit from the barf-monster when unfortunately he got sick again Sunday morning. Surely this is over.
Monday morning, two a.m.: it ain’t over. MAMA!
I heard him call across the hall, and in dark the space between our bedrooms I knew that he needed me again, not only to hold his head as he hurled but more importantly, to reassure him that I was there for him while he was at his most vulneraable.
After I wiped his sheet-white chubby little cheeks and put him in bed next to me, I slowly made my way back into the bedroom he shares with his older brother and proceeded to clean up the dreaded mess as I began wretching myself (yep, I’m a wuss.) Several towels later I had the bulk of it taken care of and climbed into our king-size bed, his warm little body quickly adhering to mine.
Mama. . he said. I love snuggling next to you. Yeah, me too buddy.
About Kate Hall
One of the moments that I felt the most parental was helping my 6yo through a vomitfest while my parents were visiting. Despite the awful mess and his suffering, it was my moment to both direct traffic (so to speak) and be Daddy to a sick little boy. I didn’t need my mom to help me, even though she was right there. Odd that at 36, I could feel pride in that “growing up” moment.
Thanks Kate! I needed this after spending half my night holding my 3yo, sleeping in the rocker or on the floor to make my wheezy, coughing, headachey,devilish one comfy. Just glad there was no barf monster here.