Monday, July 14, 2008

It Happens Sometimes

I've had an exciting day. It began with a trip to Costco, one of my very favorite places. As Jeanette and I were unloading my car at my apartment, I got a call from St. Louis Sarah (to differentiate between Puerto Rico/Bountiful Sarah and Tooele Sara). STL Sarah was stranded at a nearby park with two smallish, hungry children and a non-starting Ford. She called AAA, but that wouldn't take care of the smallish children or their hunger. I grabbed some snacks (including some delicious grapes) and headed for the park. We played with the kids until AAA man arrived. He didn't immediately tow the car. Instead, he played with the wires and things for about 15 or 20 minutes and tricked the car into starting one last time.

We'd already moved the car seats into my car, so with the two smallish children in my back seat, I followed Sarah to her usual mechanics shop just a few miles away. During the ride, the kids were virtually silent as they read their Pixar books. At the shop Sarah jumped into the car and we headed for home.

It was now nearly 2:00 PM, and these children were overdue for lunch. There was a McDonald's just a few blocks away and so we decided today was a great day for the convenience of a Happy Meal. As we turned into the Golden Arches, we heard a strange gurgling noise. I turned around to see the second wave of projectile vomiting from little Mr. J. He was still holding his book, but looked so surprised as to why and how this was happening to him. We pondered quickly how best to take care of this situation. Our plan became to simply get home as quickly as possible and clean J and his car seat there.

But what about the Happy Meal? I think there is a law that you can never promise a kid a Happy Meal and then not deliver.

In the five minute ride home, J fell very deeply asleep. We took J out of the car, and fortunately most of the mess was contained within the car seat and book. (I believe the book was immediately thrown away and the car seat hosed down.) Then Miss G and I went to the nearest McD's to get the promised Happy Meal. By the time we returned, Sarah had J cleaned and dried and sleeping soundly in his crib. I'm sure he'll feel better tomorrow.

Side note: J had only eaten apple juice and bread today, so the car never even really smelled.

3 comments:

Sara said...

You are a true Smith, so kind.

I hope you got a large dc for 99 cents.

Kate Smith said...

Maybe ill come out this weekend. Mr. J obviously doesn't know we have a no throw up rule in our vehicles.

Brittany Owens said...

How nice of you! I guess I am going to call you if I ever get stranded! What a crappy day for Sara.