Parenthack - more puke bucket innovations!

Remember the puke bucket? Yeah, it's been in pretty frequent use around here since I got The Call from Liza's preschool yesterday. You know, the one when you find out that your daughter has managed to decorate the entire hallway with vomit, despite showing no signs of illness when you dropped her off an hour earlier ...

Anyhow, since I was home alone (and I care more about the carpets in this house than I did about the wood floors at the house in Kentucky), I decided I needed to try to manage the cleanup a little better than I did last time she was ill. It was just annoying that by the time she got finished puking, I comforted her and got her cleaned up, and I got the trashcan clean, she was pretty much ready to puke again.

The solution: plastic grocery bags. I lined the puke bucket with four or five of them, and then when she got sick I could just clean her up, throw the paper towels in the bag, and throw the soiled bag in the trash - and there was a clean one waiting in the can, all ready to go. Total cleanup time: about 15 seconds, and Liza never had to be without the bucket.

The only caveat is that you need to check the bags for holes BEFORE you use them in the bucket, especially if you have to carry them any distance to get to the trashcan. The alternative is just too gross to discuss.

Oh, and here's an actual conversation between me and my daughter today.

Me: "So, did I do an okay job helping you yesterday when you were sick?"
Liza: "Mommy, you're really smart about the puke bucket."
Me: "You mean, I've got good technique?"
Liza: "You were smart about the puke and the germs didn't get on me or the couch or the floor or the cat or you. That was really cool."

Now, if I can just convince her that hyperventilating does NOT make your body stop wanting to puke, I'll be fine. The sound of her wheezing (on purpose) her way around the house, followed by the gagging and retching ... ugh, it's going to take weeks to get that out of my head.