Again with the 4AM Wake Up

Initially she stated "I'm sleepin at Mom's tonight" and I just nodded. You see, we bought some fancy nail decor stuff today and she was told her mom would have to help her with putting them on. She planned on spending a lot of the evening with me but to sleep she would stay at her house. It didn't happen that way.

 

I remember her stirring, rolling over onto her side and propping herself up on one elbow, her waist length hair hanging forward to shield her face. A few hacking coughs and the vomiting began. Carrie is sick. As I crawled out of bed, I noted the time. It's 0400 hrs.

 

Half asleep, I stumbled around the end of the bed to get to her. I removed her from the bed and  we headed for the shower. There would be no bath on this one. I lathered up and shampooed her hair while she bent over from the waist, the long hair almost touching the floor of the tub. Washed conditioned and scrubbed softly with the wash cloth and soap, she emitted an odor that was quite different then what we appeared with in the bathroom.

 

Towel drying her hair, I kept whispering to her that it was alright; Nana was going to fix it. I know how I feel when I get so sick I start vomiting. I feel vulnerable and I appreciate some support, be it verbal only. It's the time when you feel the need to have "mom" there.

 

Wrapping her in a big soft towel, we went into the living room to get dressed. Into a light blue cotton t shirt and a pair of black cotton shorts, she was ready to get on the sofa beneath the brown plaid lap blanket and rest. She is sipping on a Sprite and watching cartoons. If she drifts off to sleep, I'll douse the lights and quietly spend my time in another part of the house.

As with any mother, this grandmother dreads a child being ill. It wrings the heart to hear her soft whimpers as I was cleaning her up.

 

I'll be spending the rest of my morning washing and cleaning up the bed and linens.  From the laundry room I can hear the washing machine whirring. Clean sheets and pillow cases, a few minutes replacing them on the bed and I'll be back to square one. 

Now what to do with the remainder of my day? It's going to be another long one since it started at 0400 hrs. again. I'll sip on this cup of coffee and not think about it for a while.