Zen and the Art of Stomch Flu Endurance

My child, gaze into the bucket as the bucket gazes into you.



My kids were all trained at an early age not to stray from the bucket until they are well. Limelette #1 has been fighting the bug all week and I am just waiting for the next one to succumb. But, I was reminded of my son's ability to maintain a sense of humor even as he prayed to the porcelain god. He was 8 and he was walking down the hall towards the bathroom with me following, bucket under his chin....step, puke, step, puke.....got to the bathroom and continued his purge into the toilet. When he was done I helped him clean up and praised his ability not to spill the hurl. He looked up at me weakly, pulled a crumpled dixie cup from his shirt pocket and deadpanned a la Garth in Wayne's World, 'If yer gonna spew, spew into this.' He beamed with pride when I split a gut laughing.