Puke Bowl Season!
What type of barf bucket/bag family are you?!
Happy Valentine’s Day! We needed a few extra last-minute Valentines yesterday so I asked my husband to grab stuff at the store and he brought back a box of Valentines Fun Dip. I’m pretty loose on the treat/snack front but that is 100% pure kid-grade cocaine. Plus, we live in Vermont - I’m surprised that sort of contraband is even legal here. I put the box deep in the pantry (for who knows what occasion?) and wrangled up some Hershey’s Kisses and called it a day.
You’ll love our new episode of Parenting is a Joke with Adam Cayton Holland. Ophira and Adam talk about growing up in a house full of animals, managing his OCD, and why he loves his sons’ swim lessons.
When I mention love to my 7-year-old son, he fake vomits. But in honor of the REAL VOMIT that has splashed through our home over the past 2 weeks (and through the homes of most families in our school community and I assume in our nation over the past 2 months??!) I thought I’d dive into every parent’s nightmare… No matter how polarizing parenting can be, we can all agree to loathe one thing…THE THROW UP BUG.
Maybe you call it norovirus, the stomach bug, the stomach flu - but whatever you call it, it’s super fucking contagious and it can bring a full household to tears. My son had it a couple of weeks ago. About 5 days after he was recovered, he supposed to have a playdate. I warned the mom “We can cancel it if you feel uncomfortable because the throw-up bug was in our house about 5 days ago.” She replied, “Eh. it’s fine. Our whole house got it two weeks ago.” The throw-up bug LAUGHS in the face of people who think they can’t get it again and again and again.
So, I did some considerate deep-cleaning and the playdate ensued. At one point my son and his friend yelled “Come see our crazy hats!!!!” and I peeked into my son’s bedroom and saw that his friend was WEARING my son’s TRASH CAN on his head. The trash can that had recently been vomited in — was now pressed against this child’s full face.
And listen, we cleaned the trash can, but unfortunately, I made an eco-choice / wrong choice to put bamboo trash cans in our kids’ bedrooms so the cleaning is more like rinsing because I didn’t expect anyone would WEAR THE TRASH CAN ON THEIR HEAD.
Needless to say, that “crazy hat” led to his friend puking 24 hours later.
But it got me thinking, what do other people use for puke buckets?! Whether intentional or used in the heat of the moment? Because OF COURSE the goal is to get the sick in the toilet - we all agree. But with little kids that’s not always possible, so I asked my co-workers about their puke buckets and I got some interesting answers.
My colleague Areti uses the humble stainless steel bowl (top left) and she admitted “I use it for cakes, sauces, mac and cheese, and chips. But once a year, with a single sheet of Bounty placed inside (as if that will do anything), it’s a comforting puke bowl.” Now, I don’t want to shame my friend and colleague. Growing up we ALSO used the cake mix bowl as a sick bowl. And I’m sure this has been debated on the internet. But I think everyone can agree that this is NOT an ideal place for vomit.
Our designer Rachel (top right) uses a slightly more reasonable plastic bin. The downside she said is “most towns around us have passed no plastic bag rules, which are great 99% of the time until you need to grab a liner in a hurry.”
Our podcast producer and editor Nina blew me away with her perfect bucket (bottom right). Although the first time it happened it wasn’t intentional, she said it’s ideal because of the “high sides” and of course “because you only use it for other purposes once a year and it’s holding items that are wrapped.” Brilliant.
When I asked Ophira, she said that Lucas normally makes it to the toilet. But the last time he went down with the bug he grabbed this platter that holds various items including their TV remote. She said “the volume up button hasn’t worked since.”
Any other creative or disastrous buckets or bowls, dear readers? When my daughter had the stomach bug this past weekend, I was prepared with the plastic trash can nearby. I have learned. We all gain a bit of knowledge with every experience we endure, and sometimes that knowledge is - the chip bowl at your friend’s party? Yeah, that might have had kid barf in it last week.
Happy Valentine’s Day!!
Check this week’s episode with Adam Cayton Holland, next week we’re rerunning a favorite with Zarna Garg, and then we’ll be back with more featuring Caitlin Murray from @BigTimeAdulting and so much more!
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Had an absolute heart attack yesterday walking into my son’s room and finding him and his crib sheets absolutely drenched in red, before turning the light on and noticing all the chunks of last night’s raspberries embedded in the mess.