It's a bug's life

I don't want it... YOU can have it! The past several weeks (it feels like YEARS) have been a fabulous game of pass the stomach bug within our family. I highly recommend it as a fun summer activity when it's just too hot and uncomfortable to do anything else! It started with Brandon throwing up a little, nothing too terrible, so we immediately got the Pedialyte going and with a little rest he seemed to come around pretty quickly. A little extra laundry, some spritzing of Lysol, and some carpet cleaning with my trusty Bissell Proheat 2x Healthy Home Microban Full Sized Carpet Cleaner and we were all good!

Woohoo! We're ON TOP OF THIS!

OR ARE WE?!?! Not so fast! Just as we turned the corner with Brandon, Andrew started his heaving, only his seemed to be a bit worse than Brandon's. And for added interest Andrew had his own, unique approach, adhering to no set pattern of illness. He'd eat a little something bland for breakfast (toast) and immediately bring it back up, but then he'd grab a piece of cold pizza out of the fridge for lunch and hold it down with no problem. The case of Gatorade (30) that AH bought last month at Costco (when all I'd asked for was a 32 oz. bottle) suddenly appeared to be an incredible stroke of lucky mis-communication between AH and myself. It took a while longer for Andrew to come around but again, with my trusty Bissell Proheat 2x Healthy Home Microban Full Sized Carpet Cleaner and a few extra loads of laundry we made it through!

OR DID WE?!?!?!

Queue Brandon's puking, AGAIN!!! Still not too severe so we continued with the Pedialyte, Lysol, extra laundry, and my trusty Bissell Proheat 2x Healthy Home Microban Full Sized Carpet Cleaner and he was good to go again in a couple of days.

Oh, and now ANDREW'S NOT DONE EITHER!

Poor kid had almost two whole days being vomit free before it came back, with a vengeance. After several days rest, with a large bowl by his side (to minimize the need for carpet cleaning, etc. {it didn't work}), Gatorade, Lysol, extra laundry, and my trusty Bissell Proheat 2x Healthy Home Microban Full Sized Carpet Cleaner, and he was back to normal.

BUT WAIT! Let's not leave Daddy out of the fun!!!

This past Saturday afternoon my stomach started it's rumblings, so I immediately put myself to bed, leaving AH in charge and hoping to head it off at the pass. No such luck and 36 hours of making love to the porcelain throne later, I thought the worst of it was "behind" me but noooooooo! My stomach would continue to rumble with me shuttling to the bathroom every 5 minutes for three more days. And since AH had a business meeting out of town on Monday, I got to enjoy the day with three adorable little Tornadoes asking "Why are you sick?" "When are you going to feel better?" "What's for lunch?" "Can we go in the pool?" and of course, the ever popular "I'm bored!!!"

I can happily share that as of this morning we all seem to be back to normal, or at least normal for us. I'm so grateful that Tracy and AH managed to avoid getting whatever this virus was, because five needy babies at once in one house would probably have made it really tough to appreciate all the fun. But hey, I do hope that they didn't feel left out, after all the more the merrier, right? Why leave anyone out of the party? JUST KIDDING!! Seriously though, if there's one thing I truly appreciate through all of this is the support of my loving AH. He is my knight in shining armor, the real deal! I love you sweetheart!!!

Now, back to the day to day stuff, which by comparison is a PIECE OF CAKE!!!!

Again, just kidding.

Negotiations & rewards

AH and I came up with a method of rewarding the boys with tokens (poker chips) for doing as they were supposed to do or what they were asked to do. They each had their own color so there could be no stealing/swapping and whoever had the most at the end of the week chose that week's fun activity. This worked for a little while, until they realized that they all were choosing the same activity and eventually one kid was working so hard for tokens that he always won, so the tokens lost their allure. So much for that!

The new and improved negotiations involve earning tokens to be exchanged for individual special privileges, such as I-Pad, TV, or pool time. They can earn tokens for listening, doing as their supposed to do, certain chores, and being helpful which can be exchanged one token for 15 minutes of whatever privilege they choose, for a maximum of 30 minutes at a time, with at least an hour between special privileges. Now they are scurrying around trying to find stuff to do to earn tokens, and dutifully playing or otherwise occupying themselves until it's time again to use a special privilege. If they run out of tokens then they have no special privileges until they earn more, and it will also cost them a token for fighting or arguing, talking back, or other offenses.

Suddenly they are being perfect angels! So far so good!