It was the night I’d been waiting for…Ella’s school’s Christmas program. For there is nothing better than a preschool program. At any moment, you can typically see a nose picker, a few facing the wrong direction, some refusing to sing, someone waving at their family and if you’re lucky, some child will randomly fall and quickly spring back up as if nothing happened. Of course, there is the adorability factor of those sweet little voices singing, all decked out in their holiday finest, eyes sparkling and families beaming. LOVE IT! Ella has been singing her songs for weeks, which we hadn’t really heard last year. But this year with her ever-expanding vocabulary, we have been serenaded, getting a preview. We heard such holiday classics as, “Frosty the snowman was a jolly, happy SNOW. With a corncob pipe and a button nose and two eyes made out of COLD…” So close, so very close. I had a sneak preview the Monday prior when I volunteered in the office. I mostly saw the back of Ella’s head, as she stared adoringly at the two older boys behind her, but there was a little singing thrown in there.
Moments before the incident, but the show goes on!
This year, we were really rocking it. We were fed, Ella was dressed in her finest and we were on time. Seats were found, cameras were in the ready. I stepped up to get some pre-performance photos and I brought Lillian with me, knowing how she gets anxious when I leave her. We were snapping some photos, watching the kids and as usual, Lily was gnawing on her fist. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Lillian erupts and throw up, everywhere, all over me, the camera, herself, the floor. I waved Loran down and he cleaned the floor and camera while I ducked in the bathroom trying to avoid the lined up children and prevent a chain reaction to clean myself and Lily. The entire time, Lily was her happy self. We finished up and had been outside of the restroom a few minutes when she blew again! This time, I was running to the bathroom as one of the singers was exiting the bathroom, he saw this vomiting child coming at him and his eyes got huge and he turned the other way and ran! At this point, the carpet is a mess and one of the performers is traumatized. Loran took over Lily patrol, and we took all of the playground towels and I headed in to try to record the performance so he could see it later. But, of course, the batteries in the video camera were dead. Murphy’s Law was strong that night. So there I stood, covered in gross, smelling worse, dead camera and trying to smile. It was terrible and not at all what I’d planned. Lily got sick several more times that evening and by bedtime was done and slept through the night, thankfully. She was almost normal the next day and totally normal the day after.
Ella did well in her concert and another parent has offered to let us copy their DVD. Best of all, Ella hasn’t come down with Lily’s bug which leads me to believe it was probably something she touched and then licked off of her hand. She does, after all, play in the toilet like it’s her job – when she can get away with it. I was a bit under the weather on Sunday, which caused me to miss out on going with the family to the Y to see Santa and his reindeer. But, I think mine was more stress and dehydration and I wasn’t heaving-ho like Lillian. According to Loran, the Y was nuts and I didn’t miss out on much.
The morning after, Lillian and I did the walk of shame, steered clear of the wet and professionally cleaned carpet, and returned the now clean playground towels.
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