Not A Pretty Subject

I have been dieting for several weeks now. I set a goal of 20 pounds at a time. That is, once I lost 20 pounds I would set my goal for the next 20. The problem was, I was stuck at 18. My husband was on the same diet, we ate the same food at the same time and he lost 33 pounds, while I remained at 18. Good news, I finally lost those last 2 pounds and made my 20 pound goal. Bad news, I did it by catching a stomach bug and throwing up for a couple of days. It worked for me, but I wouldn't recommend it.
The hard thing about being sick at my age, is the back and forth between a high fever and hot flashes. First I'm freezing, then I'm suffocating. The other thing is, not having my mother to baby me. Face it, we all need our moms when we are sick. My husband, armed with his can of Lysol, telling me I should stay in bed so the germs are contained to one part of the house, just doesn't do it for me.
Kid's are funny about sickness. I remember so many times, waking up with a child standing over me, saying Mom, I'm sick, just before barfing on my bedroom floor. It's like it didn't count if Mom didn't get to see it. Of course my husband would have to clean it up. It is well known in my family, that I will always barf when cleaning up barf.
You know how dogs can sense dog lovers, and those are the people they want to be with? Well I think children can sense which mother is the most irritated by their presence, and so they want to hang out at that mother's house. Well, one day all the little children of the world were in my front yard and I was in the kitchen with a crying, feverish, 18 month old Lauren. She threw up just as 3 year old, Sarah came in the door. Sarah ran back outside and I heard her say,"Y'all, Lauren just threw up!" Then, all the little children of the world came into my kitchen to see it.
I think my favorite kid throwing up story might be from my sister in- law Jane. Her kids, Cory and Aaron were little and sitting at the table having breakfast. Aaron, in his high chair, suddenly threw up in his plate. Cory hollered, "Mom, Aaron just threw up, can I have some more toast?"
My sister in- law, Sue, teaches 2nd grade. She told me once, the flu bug had gotten so bad at school, children were getting sick faster than it could be cleaned up. Finally they just started putting out orange cones, to mark where not to walk. I think about that every time I drive through construction.