The Worst Thing About Motherhood...

The prompt from this week's 100-word Challenge  at Julia's Place is I woke with another headache which effortlessly reminded me of two nights last month - and innumerable nights before that.
It's probably the worst thing about motherhood. And it's a thing they don't warn you of – those upbeat parenting manuals. 
The knock drags you from slumber in the small hours. 'I woke with another headache,' they wail. The wafts on the landing tell you the rest. Turgid with sleep you prioritise. Fill a bath for the vomit-soaked invalid; fill a sink for the foul-clotted bedding. You shampoo. You launder. You tuck them up, soap-scented, in clean sheets and you soothe them into serenity. 
Then, irreversibly awake, you return to bed and you realise: the power to relieve childish grief is probably the best thing about motherhood.






Comments

  1. Iota 8 October 2012 at 22:30

    You tuck them up, soap-scented, in clean sheets, and then they usually wake you up 10 minutes later, having thrown up again all over the aforementioned clean sheets.

    My son once vomited 15 separate times in a morning. I counted.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stephs Two Girls8 October 2012 at 22:30

    Oh this is so true! I thought similar as I sewed Brownie badges on earlier - that its the joy they bring that makes it all worth it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Older Mum9 October 2012 at 08:20

    Little A had a sick bug the other week - she threw up every hour throughout the night - it was gross - and we went through every bedsheet, every towel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adventures of a Middle-aged Matron9 October 2012 at 12:09

      Oh my goodness! I definitely wouldn't have seen a bright side in that situation.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous9 October 2012 at 10:26

    Yep. And what a power it is.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unknown9 October 2012 at 10:41

    aww such a beautiful story. Something I hope I get to experience.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adventures of a Middle-aged Matron9 October 2012 at 12:10

      If you have children you inevitably will, but I have to say, swabbing sick in the night hours is not an experience to look forward to, however smug I might have felt afterwards!

      Delete
  6. Anonymous9 October 2012 at 14:53

    amen! work is inevitable but the serenity that follows, that calms them in the rhythm of our work is amazing. When they are grown, I'll miss that, somewhat. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adventures of a Middle-aged Matron9 October 2012 at 16:51

      Oh, I know. I'm already fretting over the things I'll miss when I'm old and no longer indispensible!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10 October 2012 at 20:48

      My first child left home this fall...I miss terribly seeing her daily and knowing what her moods and mishaps, her small joys and helping ways are up to! Just trying to live in the moment with the other two! :)

      Delete
    3. Adventures of a Middle-aged Matron10 October 2012 at 21:16

      But it's you she'll probably run to ultimately when things get to much. But yes, only today I was wishing I had a couple more kids to make the most of now mine are speeding towards adolsecence.

      Delete
  7. Rachel Selby9 October 2012 at 16:33

    I want to read the next chapter when you have to get up as usual the next morning and still function as the all loving carer and comforter. Sorry to be cynical - we are on the last day of a two week school holiday. I'll be better tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adventures of a Middle-aged Matron9 October 2012 at 16:50

      If the 100 words had allowed me I'd have added what a crotchety baggage I was the next morning! But I do find it easier to be the mother I always mean to be when my children are ill.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous11 October 2012 at 05:53

    Lovely xx

    ReplyDelete
  9. Miriam Drori12 October 2012 at 09:15

    Oh yes! Fortunately, it hardly ever happened to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adventures of a Middle-aged Matron12 October 2012 at 14:41

      Aren't you the lucky one! The other day it happened for the first time before my husband had got to sleep. He was horrified by the ensuing process that he'd hitherto got out of.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous12 October 2012 at 13:13

    Lovely twist at the end. Indeed, what a power.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adventures of a Middle-aged Matron12 October 2012 at 14:42

      Thank you. Yes, I must hold on to that sense of power during those maloderous night hours. Pity the same can;t be said for emptying cat litter trays.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous12 October 2012 at 20:31

    Oh I just wrote a long comment and lost it! So this time I'll just say that you made me look back at my son's last vomit spree (every sleeping bag, every sheet) with a different perspective. Beautiful. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adventures of a Middle-aged Matron12 October 2012 at 22:18

      Oh I'm sorry (that you went to the trouble of a lost comment and that you suffered such an pervasive vomit spree)! But thanks for persisting.

      Delete
  12. Rachel Ragg12 October 2012 at 22:12

    I don't do vomit AT ALL. Dealing with vomitous children is my husband's job. But your writing is so good that you almost convinced me. Almost.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adventures of a Middle-aged Matron12 October 2012 at 22:19

      Your husband? Your HUSBAND does that? Mine's only been involved once by mistake and the he sat panicking in the bathroom while I cleared up.

      Delete
    2. Rachel Ragg15 October 2012 at 13:48

      Vomit and dustbins are his only domestic jobs, so he can't really complain. Though I would gladly iron for the rest of my life if it means I avoid the vomit.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous14 October 2012 at 18:04

    It takes a mother to turn such a malady into a victory.
    Outstanding work on this one!

    ReplyDelete

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