The "Most Romantic Valentines Day Ever"......okay maybe not

This Valentines Day started out right....Marc spread out heart chocolates for the girls in the morning by their breakfast, and gave me a box of my own dark chocolate to devour. We made plans for a romantic dinner- and made reservations at the temple (you have to reserve a spot here in NYC) so everything was set up for a wonderful, much needed evening together. One of our good friends, Maria, had even offered to watch our children for the night, so we knew they would be in good hands while we were away. But even the best laid plans........

Around 5:30 everything changed. Owen started throwing up in his highchair during dinner. And then, as if anticipating the cholera plague, I waited to see who would be the next victim. I am sure that the excessive Valentines candy intake only added to the epidemic. Marc and I woke up around 1:30 am to a cry from Eva. "Dad, I threw up!" Sheets were changed, laundry thrown in, a bath was given, new pj's on- okay back to bed. It was only a matter of time before "Dad, I threw up!" was heard coming from our first born, Madeline. She was, however, much more strategic in her trajectory. Cleanliness is her middle name. She will not eat anything without a thorough hand cleaning, and she is first to remind Eva of germs that lurk everywhere here in NYC. So, instead of throwing up in her own bed, it must have been decided that it would be much more sanitary to throw up over the edge of the top bunk onto the floor below. Now, it was not just the floor below that was hit. We were in a rush last night to get the kids in bed. No tidying was done, no toys were put away- so as a result we now had puke covered toys, clothes and games covering the floor. This is a lesson to me to ALWAYS clean the floor up before the kids go to bed at night. So toys were washed, laundry was thrown in, a bath was administered, and then it was back to bed. A few hours passed and it started all over again. So, here we are today...the day after.... looking back at the "most romantic day of the year"- (ha!) with fond remembrance :).

I have learned 2 things over the last seven years: teach your children at a very young age two phrases "Dad, I threw up" and "Dad, wipe me"......hey it works for me :).

Joking aside, I will say that Marc was the best husband ever for helping me out last night. He was a trooper- getting up every time with the girls and letting me sleep because he knew that I was not feeling well either. Right now he is at work with only about 2 hours of sleep from last night. Sometimes it takes a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Valentines Day to remind you that you have a wonderful Valentine....