Flu

Apparently our family can't catch a break! Jay came home from school on Thursday feeling just fine. He did his homework, had a snack, helped me clean up his Lego table, and was about to help me clean up the hallway when he started complaining of a tummy-ache. Now, my kids are good kids, but sometimes they make stuff up to get out of cleaning. He asked if he could just take a break and watch a cartoon because his tummy hurt. I told him if his tummy REALLY hurt, he could go lay down on his bed, but if he'd just help me finish cleaning up the last few things in the hall we could watch a cartoon together. He went straight to bed. The kid was asleep within 2 minutes of laying down. It was only 5:00 pm. I tried to wake him up because I was afraid he'd be bouncing off the walls by 7:00 pm. He was OUT. My radar went off. This is NOT normal behavior for him. He slept hard for about 3 hours. When he woke up, he ran straight for the bathroom. That is where the poor kid spent the next 4 hours. We had to bring him a bucket because he was experiencing double-trouble. He kept asking why being sick felt so horrible. I explained to him that his body had lots of germs in it and that it was trying to get all of the germs out as fast as possible. I felt SO bad for him, but couldn't help chuckling at some of his comments. After a few rounds of vomiting, he called out "Well, I just killed a BUNCH of germs!!". He also begged us to take him to the hospital a few times. Dan went out and got him 7-Up, Popsicles, and Gatorade. Jay had a hard time keeping anything down, and he absolutely refused to leave the bathroom for any reason. It had been about an hour since he'd experienced either unpleasant experience. He kept saying all he wanted to do was sleep, but that he couldn't get comfortable on the toilet (duh). We finally coaxed him off the toilet by promising him that we would bring in his little couch and let him sleep next to the toilet. (THANK GOODNESS I scrubbed the crap out of that thing *literally* the day before!) Dan gave him a Priesthood blessing during all of this, and Jay said the sweetest prayer right before he went to sleep. In the blessing, Dan said that Jay would experience the symptoms of the sickness, but that it would be over quickly if he had faith and prayed. So, he prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help him calm down enough to sleep. He also asked Him to bless Annie and make her healthy and strong so she wouldn't get sick. He fell right to sleep and woke up happy. He was still a little queasy this morning and he took a nap this afternoon, but by 4:00 this evening, he was fever-free and helping me sanitize the kitchen. I am glad it was a 24 hour bug, and I hope that Jayden is the only one who got it. If the rest of us catch it, I hope it is over before Annie gets here!!