Ew

Great, now I'm in the vomit circus. Thanks, Nilo.

Just kidding. I know it's simple coincidence that my four-year-old started throwing up (in my bed) at 1:30 this morning, just like Nilo's daughter, only not as bad. In reality, I blame my mother's cat.

Yeah, that's right. Her cat. See, Gina slept over at Grandma's house Tuesday night, and came home wrapped in a blanket from Grandma's bed. Grandma's cat lives in Grandma's bedroom, since Granny and PoPo (my grandparents) cannot stand Cat. So Cat spends a lot of time lounging around on Grandma's bed. You can just imagine the pet dander, I'm sure.

Now, to be fair, neither Gina nor Sia have ever exhibited the slightest case of pet allergies. We had TWO cats back in NC, before they went all anti-kid and started attacking the children. Only Bizarro Dad showed traces of allergies (white gunk in the eyes), but we thought it was just the Carolina air. Carolina brings out allergies in people who never had them before, especially with all the dogwood trees. It has, in fact, been rated as the number one allergy state. And since the hubby had not shown any cat allergies ever before in his life (not even when we were first married in Texas, and I had a different cat), I had no idea it was even a cat issue.

Until last night.

Gina spent most of the evening wrapped in the blanket from Grandma's house. After a while, I started to notice white gunk in her eyes, but I didn't connect it to the blanket. She's been sick for weeks, so I thought it was just more of her cold. Then I put her to bed with me (with that blanket). She tossed and turned and told me her eyes hurt and that she wanted to throw up. I take her to the bathroom. Nothing happens but some spit. I look at her eyes. WAY more gunk. I think. I sniff the blanket. Jackpot. Take the blanket away.

However, since the blanket was in my bed for a while, enough of that stuff got into the sheets. Apparently it also got on the couch and on Granny's quilt, too. Puffy eyes the whole night. 1:30 AM vomit (mostly mucus), accompanied by severe crying and lots of eye gunk. And this morning? Gina's eyes were stuck shut. She kept trying to open them, but the eyelashes were not cooperating. I had to use wet Kleenex on her little eyes and spend a good ten minutes trying to carefully get the dried gunk out so she could see the world again. That blanket is outta here!

So, to conclude: Mom, wash your blankets, and vacuum your cat once in a while. I'm going to see if they make children's Alavert. And Nilo, I'm glad your daughter is feeling better today. The kids and I have been keeping her in our prayers.