I left my children at home with my husband last night, while I went to MUSC Children’s Hospital to serve dinner to the families of patients receiving long-term care with Meaningful Meals. When I returned home Aubrey, my 4 year old, was hysterical in the bed, claiming her “throat hurt too bad to eat dinner” and now her tummy hurt. She was gagging and coughing and generally carrying on like a fool. I could tell she needed a little Momma Love, so I gave her some ibuprofen then laid down on the bed with her to help her calm down.

My two year old, Emma, shares a room with my oldest and wasn’t about to be outdone by her older sister. Emma began fake coughing and sneezing, “AH-CHOO! Momma I so sick, my neck hurts…” If I wiped Aubrey’s nose, Emma was sure to scream, “I have boogers TOO, Momma!”

Aubrey was especially enjoying all of the attention. She is usually my “well-child” and gets jealous on a regular basis when I drag her to the doctor’s office for one of her sisters to see our doctor. He IS a cutie-pa-tootie and sweet as pie, Aubrey fumes as she sits on the sidelines and watches Emma or Sadie get to do all the “fun stuff.”

I finally got both girls settled into the bed, complete with matching barf buckets…just in case. As I was leaving the room and giving them their last kisses of the night, I told Aubrey, “If you are still sick in the morning I’ll take you to the doctor.”

“Are you sure Momma? Really, really sure?” she asked.

“Yes. If you don’t feel better we’ll go to the doctor.”

“FINALLY!” She quickly replied.