My toddler has been cranky the past few days.  He fights sleep because he doesn’t want to miss anything.  There has been a lot of dust in the air and he has been a little congested.  Yesterday I finally got him to fall asleep laying on me.  As much as I wanted to cuddle as those moments are getting fewer as he ages, I had things I needed to do.  So I carried him into the bedroom and put him in bed.  A few times I heard him cough and whimper a bit in his sleep.  During one coughing fit instead of just peaking in on him like I did the other times I went into the room. He started to cry and pointed to his belly. I asked him if his stomach hurt and he shook his head yes.  I asked if he needed a drink or something to eat he said no.  Then the coughing got a little rough and I knew it was coming. Throughout my parenting experience i have used my hands for many things. In this moment I did not want a mess in my bed.  I saw his facial expression change and out came some mucus which I quickly gathered in my cupped hands, right after came everything else he had in his stomach. When my hands were full, thinking I had avoided a huge mess, I went into the bathroom to get rid of the mess and wash my hands.  In the meantime though he continued to puke. I came out to him coughing then saying “EWW” then spitting up, then repeating this vicious cycle. He was saying eww because he had puked on his foot. He kept pointing to his foot saying “EWW”. I grabbed a towel and cleaned him off and the bed, held onto him and stripped the bed sheets. After a bit he finally calmed down and I got him to go back to sleep.  When he woke back up he was fine. Stupid phlegm anyway.  But yesterday was indeed a first for my hands.  They have never before been used to catch vomit or snot for that matter and I hope they will never have that job again.  The joys of parenthood. Always keeping me on my toes.