Parents should listen, too

We harp on our kids about listening to parents, teachers, babysitters, etc. But as I found out yesterday, parents should also listen to their kids!

Mitchell got up Tuesday morning complaining of his arms and legs hurting. He was kind of groggy and was moaning and groaning as he walked around. He laid in our bed for a while and watched TV. But he said he couldn't pick up the covers to get under them. I got him some Motrin and thought maybe he was experiencing growing pains.

He was supposed to be at Tara's house at 8:35am because she was taking him to camp. I got his lunch ready and packed his backpack. Then I tried to get him to come to the kitchen to eat his breakfast. He didn't touch it and said he didn't feel good. So he laid on the couch and got him to eat 2 bites of cereal. Then I sent him off to his room to get dressed. I needed to get ready, so I sent Dave in there to be sure he was getting dressed. Then I heard Dave ask him if he was OK. So I went into the hallway and Mitchell had thrown up and was crying.

I felt really bad since I had "forced" him to eat. Mitchell has never thrown up before, so the whole thing kind of freaked him out. I put him back in bed and got him a cold washcloth. Dave began the clean up process, so I moved him to our bed.

He threw up one more time, took a nap, and then he was absolutely fine! He said he was hungry. I gave him just a few crackers and told him to wait to see if they would stay down. He just kept wanting to eat and eat. He ate through almost an entire sleeve of crackers and then wanted macaroni and cheese. I gave it to him against my better judgment. (He did also have some applesauce in between the crackers and mac & cheese.) He kept everything down and played just like normal.

I was shocked that he had garlic rolls and pizza from Ippolito's for dinner! This kid has a stomach of steel. Although now he's freaked out and keeps asking me if he's going to get sick again.

One more thing about listening...when we were at dinner, Mitchell said, "Daddy" and I turned to him and said, "What?" He looked slightly confused and said, "I didn't say 'Mommy'. I said 'Daddy'." Oops.