Clean Up On Isle 3

Actually, I think it was row 12.  So the only flight that our family was not all seated together was the first one from Seattle to Chicago.  Grace was at the front row in our section, Dara and Xavier were just a row in front of me about 10 rows back from Grace, and Malachi and Elijah were in the same row as Dara and Xavier but on the other side of the isle.  On that row there was another passenger sitting in the isle seat on both sides.

A few minutes into the flight an attendant stopped by my seat to let me know that, although the seat belt sign was still on as we had not yet reached cruising altitude, she allowed Grace into the lavatory as she was out of her seat and pointing at her mouth to indicate it was full of vomit.  I thanked her for her kindness and later went to check on Grace who said she was feeling better.  She actually ended up puking in an air sickness bag at landing as well but we didn't learn that until later.

The real fun came just as we began our final approach.  Malachi says (I later learn from Dara), "I think I'm gonna throw up".  I hear Dara telling Eli to get a bag for his brother, which he does not do quickly enough.  Soon I can see the results of Malachi's efforts pooling beneath his chair as the lovely aroma of fresh bile wafts through the passenger cabin.  I see the woman sitting next to him doing something, which Dara later informs me was her partially opening an air sickness bag and throwing it at Malachi.  Very kind of her, I'm sure, but all it really did was ensure that he got puke all over his hands and lap as well as he tried to expell the remainder of his stomach contents into a half opened bag.  She spent the rest of the flight (mercifully only about 10 minutes) leaning as far towards the isle as possible, looking queasy and irritated.

We waited for the plane to clear (all the while Elijah's looking like he may add to the festivities with a sympathy puke) and the flight attendants were very helpful (thank you United Airlines), giving me wet cloths and garbage sacks.  I cleaned him up the best I could and took him into the terminal to a nearby bathroom to fisnish the chore (now a thank you to O'hare airport for the awesome little utility sinks in the men's room).  Thankfully, Dara is a phenomenal packer and thought to bring a change of clothes for him.  His shoes were plastic and he wasn't wearing any socks so that was an easy clean.  The backpack was a bit of a chore (which was as his feet as he wretched).  But, by the end of it all, we had a very fresh smelling eight year old and a sack full of vomit scented clothing. 

He ended up doing the old technicolor yawn a few more times on the next flight but managed to get it all into a bag each time.  Thankfully, that seemed to be the end of it and no recurrences since. 

Who doesn't love international travel with four kids?  At least it makes for good blog material.