So the Beloved and I were coming back from a little side-trip. As we were coming through the de-planing tunnel, we see a little guy, maybe 4 or 5, having a bad day. Plane trip must have upset his tummy, because he’s upchucking. Mum is standing there, asking him if it’s over, if he feels okay, all the nice mum things. While she’s doing that, she’s holding her hands, cupped in front the little guy, containing his vomit. Without going into too much detail, her hands are full and it’s overflowed onto the floor.
Now, is this de rigeur for parenthood? Is there an unspoken rule that if one’s offspring are upchucking and there’s no container handy, one must catch the vomit in one’s hands? Perhaps I’m unfeeling, but in a large airport with tiled floors, wouldn’t it be sufficient to let the staff know about it so the cleaning crew, paid for that purpose, can swing into action?
The Beloved and I would appreciate the thoughts of any parents out there on this one.
(And what was she going to do with it anyway? Walk around the airport with her hands cupped and full of offsping vomit??)
I think I would do it out of knee jerk reaction really.
A parent just reacts.
Now, at home if I have been known to tell the heathens not to bleed, puke, or whatever on my new carpet. Aim for the tile!
You should see peoples faces.
It’s just a reaction. You do strange things when hit with stuff out of the blue.
That and she might have been embarassed and was worried about someone else having to clean up the mess.
I’m like that as well.
I would feel so guilty to have someone else clean up after one of the heathens getting sick.
I vote for not just no, but HELL NO! My job as heroic dad is to grab a trash can or something for him to spew in, and failing that, direct traffic around the puddle on the floor. Catching it in my hand? No way, unless its in my car! (hands are easier to clean than carseats)
Hurl-away, little Miller! Sir Issac and Dame Fate will see to it your gutteral issue hits the proper mark!
She told me she loved me like a brother. She is from Arkansas, hence the Joy!
My kid’s puked all over a shoe store and I must admit that my first instinct was to cup my hands and catch it, but fortunately I didn’t act on it. I just let him barf cottage cheese all over their rug. I tried to clean it up a little with the burp cloth I always carried, but pretty much left it there for them to deal with. Humm, maybe I should feel a little guilty about that?
Nope. I didn’t sign up for puke catching when I decided to become a parent.
I would have let it go on the floor and then alerted maintenance. Besides, if you have handfuls of puke how can you pick up your child and cuddle them when they need it most?
No, I like to catch it with my back. When the Rez Toddler gets an upset stomach he likes to hug me and cling tight. And puke over my shoulder down my back. I usually just walk to the shower and let some warm water flow over us to clean up. No point in getting grossed out over something that’s already done.
One time I was doing the “Who’s the cutsie wootsie baby?” thing while holding him up. He puked in my mouth. So vomit in the hand doesn’t faze me much anymore.
"Catch your child’s puke
And put it in your pocket
Never let it hit the floor
Catch your child’s puke
And put it in your pocket
Hope he doesn’t puke no more
For love he may urp
Or throw up on your shoulder
It burst like a comet
Just in case you feel
You want to hold him
You’ll have a pocketful of vomit"
I’m (unfortunately for me) with Kricket and Leifsmama on this one. By the time you realize (What the f**k am I doing?) it’s too late, and you’ve got a handful. Granted, our little one was in her booster seat at the table at the time, and I was mostly trying to avoid having to completely bathe a cranky, sick kid who really just wanted to go to sleep.
TMI Warning
I was also aware that, since she had a nasty chest cold, and hadn’t eaten more than 2 bites, it was gonna be mostly mucous anyway. Most parents will agree, I think, that by the time the kid’s almost 2 years old, you’re practically immune to mucous.
This has gotta be a by-product of catching everything else the kid drops (cups, toys, spoons, etc.) on a daily basis. You just develop a “diving end zone grab” for anything that comes from your kid. Think back to pacifiers: how many times a day didja make a diving grab for one to keep it from hitting the floor in a public place, since you had stupidly forgotten to bring the requisite 3 backup pacifiers that day?
My brother once caught his son’s eruption in the sleeve of his overcoat (my brother’s coat that is). Lucky he did so because otherwise my nephew would have soiled a perfectly nice NYC bus.
