When nightmares come true

So about 2 weeks ago, we traveled from Alabama (well, we flew from Nashville, technically) to San Diego, California for a wedding. It was a great, albeit short and very busy, trip. My preschooler was the flower girl, and did an amazing job - as you can see in the photo below.

     The whole trip was fun for everyone, although the girls didn't nap much, and we were all very worn out by the end. But Sunday came, the wedding was over, and we piled back on the airplane to head home. That's when disaster struck. 

     Yup... it was a parent's worst nightmare. Here we were, in our 3 seats next to each other, on an incredibly packed flight of people, and our preschooler says the dreaded words, "my tummy hurts!" Thankfully a flight attendant overheard her and handed us a trash bag as a precaution. Now most parents will know that an upset tummy can be caused by many things, and doesn't mean iminent danger. Unfortunately this time it did.

     No sooner had the cabin doors closed and the plane begun to pull away from the gate, when she vomited. Thankfully the vomit made it all into the trash bag. Unfortunately there was danger at both ends going on, and we weren't as prepared for that. So not only did the people next to us have to experience the sounds of a preschooler throwing up, and the smells, but they were also treated to the smells of soiled pants. And since she is normally so proactive about potty time, she was in regular clothes (and of course I didn't follow my own advice and hadn't packed her a spare set of shorts. oh no!)

     My husband turned to me - who was busily holding my breath from the stench and trying to entertain a very squirmy 15mo old, and said in a very calm voice, "I'm pretty sure I've had nightmares about this. I don't even know where to begin." Yes, it was awful.

     Well, once we had finished take-off and the pressure in the cabin eased a bit, he was able to clean her up, grab another trash bag from the helpful crew (who jumped up as soon as they could to help us), and pack away all of the foul smelling items. But, like I said above, I had forgotten a spare set of clothes for her, and there was no way she was going to fit in the romper I'd packed for the baby. Thankfully I did have extra pull-ups on hand, so she had to just sit tight in a T-shirt and pull-up until we made it to baggage claim.

     And bless the flight attendant who recognized horrified parents attempting to make the situation as manageable as possible for everyone involved (or not involved) and offered us free drinks. My husband thoroughly appreciated his whiskey & coke. You have no idea how much he deserved it.