New No More

We've learned some lessons this week about our new car and its child-friendliness:

Lesson 1: Nothing christens a new mom car like vomit. At least that's what we've decided. Kate has been suffering from a high fever/stomach flu for the last 48 hours or so. Just when I thought she was past the worst of it, it flared up again yesterday afternoon, which I discovered only as we were on our way home from picking up Sam. In the new car. The good news is that all she'd really had was water, and it stayed mostly on her poor little body, equipped with a puffy winter coat (highly absorbent) and her car seat. Just one little spot in the middle of the mat on the floor board. So just after I'm thinking, "Poor girl! What am I going to do?" it occurs to me that we're in the NEW car. Then I'm thinking, "Poor me! What am I going to do?"

Lesson 2: Vomiting is one of those things that only parents of small children can think is funny. Once it was all cleaned up, it became kind of funny that here we are so excited about the new car—even Sam was concerned Wednesday when he spilled a little water in it—and here comes Kate! But when I tried to tell our salesman, Smokey (no kidding, that's his name), about it when we went to pick it up from its scheduled appointment today, he didn't laugh! In fact, he looked a little grossed out. Oh, that's not funny to you? Sorry. Must be a mom thing.

Lesson 3: People are not just more important than things, they are more important than very new, very expensive things. When I called to tell Stuart that Kate threw up, in the new car, and I tried to clean it with spot cleaner and was pretty sure I'd bleached out the floor mat, he had the gall to say, "That's okay. You did what you had to do. Don't even worry about the car. I'll look at it when I get home." What a trooper.

Kate is still on the mend. Today was the day where you think she's all good, and then she has a little relapse. She was doing great this morning, but like yesterday, her fever came back with a vengeance during naptime. The stomach part of the bug seems to be okay, but we're being really careful (and driving the Tahoe) today.