Mommy and Daddy School

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Mommy and Daddy School

Mommy and Daddy School

For the most part, there is no such thing as Mommy and Daddy school. You can take advice from books and from friends, but mostly you're on your own. The "What to Expect" books only go so far. Past general advice there are things that they can't teach you anywhere.

Today, I field-stripped a vomit-soaked car seat in my driveway. Where the hell is that in the manual? We went to a birthday party today. Some folks may say, huh? Birthday party on Superbowl Sunday? What's up with that? But wait - Birthday party at a firehouse with the kids climbing on the trucks and learning fire safety at the same time as checking out the sirens - Bravo! I salute the fine folks at Hillcrest who thought of this.

Poor Brooke. She seemed a little pekid but still was a trooper - eating pizza and cake (in the shape of a fire engine!) and playing along. My wife and I took separate cars because the little guy was napping. On the way home, my cell rings and it's my wife. I'm thinking - oh, no, a flat or something. But it was worse. Much, much worse.

Brooke basically threw up all over herself, her coat, her seat, and the car seat. Pam had cleaned up some of it by the time I arrived road-side to help. But when we got home, I had to clean the seat. So, I go inside and get prepared. I get an old, out-of-business-dot-com sweatshirt I don't care about. I get the rubber gloves. I briefly contemplated a face mask, but decided to rough it. Bad move. I gagged a bit, but managed to wipe off the Eddie Bauer Cosco Seat and get it ready to be stripped. I then went through an incredible hastle of straps, ties, and 'keeping the cover where it's supposed to' stuff in order to strip the seat. I washed the cover in the wash and the seat in the shower. The car and the seat still smell a bit of the day's, um, activities. Pam will have to have the car cleaned. How do you get through this without throwing up yourself? Pure daddy instinct and lots of nasty smelling chemicals like 405 and Lysol to distract you. I have no advice - I'm not sure how I stripped the seat - it was a bitch to re-assemble. But it's back and ready for tomorrow.