A Tale of Two Reactions

Kids are different, it’s a given. They have their own personalities and quirks, and they are their own little people. Even brothers and sisters who seem so much alike in so many ways are actually very different when you take the time to observe them in action. Never has this been more obvious to Mike and I than last night.


A little background information to help this all make sense; I have been sick with a stomach flu since Sunday and only started feeling human again this past Thursday. My appetite has been hit or miss and I haven’t really been eating much. Friday, my sister Angie came up to hang out and we took the kids out on a very stressful, challenging, “I swear I will leave you here in this parking lot if you don’t hold my freaking hand,” kind of shopping trip. That evening, I didn’t eat dinner, but I ran a fast 5K on the treadmill.

When I went into the family room to stretch, I found that the cats had been locked in there without their litter box and in protest Hailey crapped a load in the corner and heaved two landing strips of disgusting cat vomit in front of the rocking chair.

What I’m saying is, yesterday was stressful dude.

So after I finally disinfected the family room and went to get a shower, I felt a little dizzy and my ears were ringing. After the shower, I went to the kitchen to clean up some dishes and I really started to not feel well. Long story short; too late, right? I started having a panic attack. Mike had been putting Elyse to bed, but he came out of her room to get something and noticed that I wasn’t feeling well and immediately swung into action. Even though I was having trouble breathing and my heart was racing like it was competing in its own 5K, I was still able to observe how the kids reacted.

Elyse very quietly and calmly walked over to where I was sitting and grabbed my arm. She was talking to me, but in a very low little voice. She didn’t move from my side until I started feeling better and went to sit in the recliner. After I was sitting down, she brought me a piece of the cereal bar that I had been eating and again took up position next to me until she was sure that her mommy was just fine.

Aaron handled things a teensy bit different. As soon as he was aware that something was amiss, he kept asking from across the room, “What’s wrong? What’s happening? Is Mommy going to throw up? Hey Mommy, are you going to throw up? What’s wrong? She’s gonna throw up Dad, right?” He heard Mike ask if he should call my Mom, and Aaron was all, “Let’s call Grandma! Maybe we should call Grandma! Let’s call the police. Hey Mom, are you gonna throw up?” While Mike was getting me a cold cloth for my head, Aaron was pacing in front of the phone saying, “We need a plan. I’m gonna go draw a plan.” Once I was in the recliner, Aaron started to relax, but still kept his distance and sat across the room on the couch. Before he settled back in to watch Little Bear he looked over at me and was like, “You thought you were gonna throw up, right?”

So for future reference, if you are going to have some kind of an emergency, it’s Elyse that you are going to want by your side. Otherwise, Aaron will call the police after he draws up a plan, and is confident in the odds of whether or not you may vomit.