Vomit at Church

Yesterday was an adventure Thomas and I will not forget. Sunday morning everything was completely normal. If anything was different it was that Thomas was extra-energetic. All seemed completely normal through sacrament meeting and when that was over, Thomas and Nicholas dashed off to primary as usual. There were no surprises in Sunday School. And then Relief Society came around...

About midway through the announcements someone taps me on my shoulder and points toward the door. Thomas was standing there with his teacher. I knew instantly that we were in for something. His face was COMPLETELY drained of color and there was an ominous green ring around his mouth. I immediately jumped up and rushed to him. I had just layed my hand on his shoulder when the volcano erupted.

He was holding his sweater in his hand, so as I scooped him up in my arms I tried to position the sweater in front of the flow. We had about a basketball court length of hallway between us and the toilets. It would have been so nice if it were a deserted hallway, but that wasn't the case. There was a class (Nicholas' class) of about 10 4 year olds taking turns getting a drink. I was desperately trying to keep the mess from hitting the floor (or worse, hitting any children). When I realized the sweater had reached it's capacity I began directing Thomas's face toward my body. YUCK. I quickly got the attention of the 4 year old class's teacher by saying "Throw up! Watch out! We have throw up!" She frantically cleared a path and I think we made it through them without any splatters. I thought everything would be fine once we made it into the bathroom, but it somehow still got on the floor and all over the seat of the toilet.

After poor Thomas was finished, I surveyed the damage. Thomas was covered. His sweater was completely saturated, his shirt was soaked down the front, his pants were splattered, his shoes had drips on them, somehow a big chunk of his hair was messy! As for me, I was lucky to be wearing a jacket. One side of my jacket was covered, my skirt was splattered, but the worst was my hair. My hair was draped in front of my shoulder and was full of grossness! I took off Thomas' shirt, wiped off his pants and shoe with a wet paper towel and then had him sit by the wall. I took off my jacket, rinsed my hair, and wiped off my dress. Then I tackled the toilet and surrounding floor with wet paper towels. About three people came in during the cleaning process. As soon as I saw them I would say, "Throw up...you might want to find another bathroom." Not one of them stayed.

Just as I was trying to figure out how to get the hall cleaned up and get home before another eruption, the RS president walked in and asked what I needed. She was a lifesaver. She said someone had already cleaned up the hall. She went and got Jackson, a garbage bag for our dirty clothes, a pail for Thomas, and my bags from RS. Jackson and I grabbed the other two kids out of their classes and we were out of there!

Poor Thomas was sick at least six times through last night, but is doing much better today. Nicholas threw up this morning, but is acting like he feels good now. Thinking back on it, I feel very thankful he was able to wait until I was there to help him. I'm glad it didn't happen in the middle of primary. I feel bad we exposed everyone at church, but we had no idea. I am sure this will be a day we reminisce about in the future.


Here are a few pictures of my family at our house the Sunday after Christmas.