You all know the feeling. Just as you are about to sigh that huge sigh of relief that it’s all over, something happens to show you it sure as hell is not. It seems this is just a continuation of my last post. As you may have heard, Baby Geary was hit with the gastro bug last week. I wrote a post about how we managed to get through it and conquer the deadly and violent bug. Wow! Its really starting to sound like a horror movie scene back in the Geary household. Armed with suppositories of every kind, a bucket, every clean sheet and towel in the house, rehydrate and a shaky sense of humor, we managed to nurse Brody back to health and just in time, considering it was my dads 60^th birthday party the very next night. I was about to let out a huge sigh of relief when Noah began complaining about stomach cramps. I literally felt my throat close up. Please God NO. Don’t let this be happening. Another 4 days of vomit and poop? I just wasn’t sure I would survive it.

By the time my dads party arrived we thought we had gotten over the worst. We were hopeful he would be much better by Saturday morning as were due to go on a little holiday to Shelley Point to continue birthday celebrations with our extended family. We woke up on Saturday morning to a little boy who, if he looked any greener would pass for the Hulk. He vomited four times before we even left and shat his pants on the long drive there. (I tried my hardest to find a nicer word for shat to put in there but lets face it, there is none) We were that family at the Wimpy One Stop with the kid who soiled his pants and had to get a change of clothes from the car.

Like most kids he managed to perk up at times and even managed a swim in the hotel pool when we got there. But those moments were often cut short by a high pitched scream as his hands fell behind his bum and his eyes stretched as wide as saucers, Mom I need to pooooooooh!!! And then what followed was a race against time (or rather the inevitable explosion) as we scurried like crazy people, ass knyping to find the nearest toilet.

Still, we managed to enjoy a really nice family dinner by the pool made even nicer by the strong cocktail I had on arrival and a few big glasses of wine. We turned in to our hotel room early that night with dreams of all waking up fresh and ready to enjoy the day together, hubby whispering to me over the deep breathing of our little pups in the same room, This is nice babe tomorrow will be better. Love you. Sleep well. I breathed it all out, all the stress of the day, the disappointment of terrible timing, the sadness of seeing another one of my babies sick and missing out. I breathed it all out and fell asleep with a glimmer of hope for what awaited us the next day.

And then I heard it. The sound of a man groaning in pain. It was 1 am and I found Brendon was hunched over the bed in pain. And then the dreaded retching. And then he spent the majority of the night in the bathroom. All I kept thinking was Can this really be happening? Well, yes of course it can I hear some of you screaming at me. I mean these bugs are pretty contagious, but cry me a freaking river, can we not just all get it at the same time and be done with it??

Brendon spent the entire day in the hotel room while we played and went to the beach. Poor guy. Could Murphy be any more screwed up? That night we had planned to get baby sitter to have a special adults only dinner with my brother, sister in law and the folks so we booked babysitters for the four kids. The cousins would order room service and get an early night so the adults could, well, ADULT.

In the end, Brendon still wasn’t able to make dinner so he ordered room service while I joined the rest of the family at the restaurant for a delicious dinner. I came back to the room just after 10pm to all my boys asleep. Could we finally all be on the mend? Maybe we could all actually enjoy the last day together before Brendon had to leave to go back to work. Please God let tomorrow be better was my prayer as I drifted off to sleep.

The next thing I remember was having my head in the toilet. I don’t even know how I got here in time but there was no denying it, I had been hit. It was my turn. It was like I could see the parasite look at me in the eyes and say And you thought you were going to get passed me??? Wahahaha. And its evil laugh echoing through the toilet bowl. Well, Dam you you little punk. DAM YOU, you evil little piece of worthless crap. First, you took down our youngest, then you came for Noah, then you tried to go straight to the captain of our ship? And just to have the final laugh you thought you would come back for me???? What kind of a sick joke is that?

Thank goodness I managed to stick it to the bug and after one or two (ok about 6) trips to the loo I bounced right back. This bug was not going to put me on my back in bed, no thank you! While I tried not to admit defeat, we had to face it; there was no point in me staying on with our kids alone with the rest of the family. We were better off all returning home to the safety of a familiar place. I longed for my own bed, all their things in the right place and the comforts of my home. I was dreading the drive back alone, having brought up two cars thinking I would stay on an extra night with the others.

Brendon and I drove back in convoy(one kid each) and I had time to think. To really wonder what these things teach us. And it took me back to the conversation I had with Noah the previous day on the beach. He asked me Why do we get sick mom? and after explaining to him about our bodies defenses and giving him a pretty basic explanation about bugs and germs he asked me So is that how we die? Do the bugs kill us? and of course this opened up a whole new conversation. As I saw the panic hit his eyes, I assured him there were some parasites and diseases that are more dangerous than the little lurgees we had been faced with and that he had nothing to worry about. I told Noah that when we get sick it teaches us to be grateful for our health and to not take our strong bodies for granted. I told him that when we go through horrible times of sickness we are taught to rely on God and each other and when we finally get out strength back we are appreciate our health so much more. We realize the energy it takes to run on the beach (he could barely walk and I had to piggy back him half the walk), to swim, to ride bikes, to play with cousins. We realize how specially designed our bodies are to move and enjoy life. He looked at me and said Yes mom, and it teaches us to really enjoy eating ice-cream when we are better. I’m so excited to eat ice cream. Maybe it teaches us to say thank you or the ice cream too. I promise I will say thank you ok mom?

Yes my boy that exactly what it teaches us. It’s all about the ice cream. The ice cream of life that is. The sweetness of life that can at times be stolen from us but will always (God willing) make its return in all its heavenly, comforting and sugary delight!

Hi I’m Leigh! Did you enjoy reading this post? I really hope so and would love you to stick around a little longer! Please feel free to browse my blog for other articles or to keep up with all the latest news and to be the first to hear about some great competitions, come and find me me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also email me directly at leeloobaggins@hotmail.com or simply subscribe below and never worry about missing out!