Colds, Purple Busses, and Girls

R got a cold the other day and she really exhibited an amazing ability to learn! The poor girl was so full of mucus that she couldn’t talk without coughing. All of a sudden, while trying to drink, she gagged and a bunch of it came up. You know when you’re trying to separate egg whites from the yolks and the egg whites are going everywhere while you try to direct them into the bowl? Egg whites kind of have that slimy, gooey you-can’t-get-a-grasp-on them-before-they-slip-through-your-fingers feeling, right? That’s the same feeling that mucus from a two-year-old’s stomach feels when you’re trying to catch it, but you have nowhere to direct it. What a mess.

After that pitiful episode, I cuddled R on the couch with a towel on her so she wouldn’t get stuff everywhere again. In the midst of all this misery, R’s learning mechanisms were working overtime. She eventually dropped her towel on the floor and went back to playing. Suddenly, I saw her throw the toy she was playing with on the floor and make a beeline for her towel. She prostrated herself on the towel and coughed up a storm. No gagging, though. I told her she did a good job and then went back to my work. Being the mom who worries way too much when her kids are sick, I kept an eye on R the rest of the morning. That poor girl definitely didn’t want to gag everywhere again. Every time she felt a cough coming on, she’d drop what she was doing and run and throw herself down on the towel until her coughing fit was over. Unfortunately for her, she was running back and forth too much to get anything done but exercise.

We were supposed to go to our meeting that Sunday morning, but I couldn’t imagine having R throw herself down on her towel in the middle of the meeting hall! We might’ve gotten a few weird looks, so I kept her home.

I also have to add this because I thought it was cute. K’s school bus is a lovely mustard yellow color. It’s really easy to see coming. R knows that she’s going to preschool in the fall and she’s pretty excited about it. Today as we were walking to get K and bring him home, she asked me if her school bus could be purple. (I think purple is her current favorite color.) I told her we’d talk to her teachers about it when she starts school. That’s it. End of story. I know it’s better to have been there to see it, but maybe someone will find it humorous! Mom? Dad? Are you laughing?

One more thing. I don’t think I have to worry about K kissing any girls soon. I was asking the kids if I should shower before A gets home from work. R, of course, said “no”. I can't figure it out, but she never wants me to do that. K, on the other hand, said “yeah. That way you can smell good and daddy will loooooove ya and daaaance with ya. And if he kisses you on the mouth, me and R will say ‘eeeewwww, that’s disGUSting.’” All of this was said with a very stuffy nose, which makes it even funnier coming from my 4-year old.