Practical Parenting

So if, for sake of argument, one of your kids vomited repeatedly on the couch, how would you get the smell to go away? Sparing you the ugly details, let's just say the residual odor has a spoiled milk vomit-y smell.

We used carpet cleaner on it. Should I move on to less earth-friendly cleaner, risk washing the cover in the machine (from past experience it doesn't come back out the way it went in), or rent a steam cleaner?

Or maybe I should convince Chris that it is time to buy a new couch...

Your advice is welcomed!

House of Blllrrrgh

Last week Ian and Mira got a stomach bug. By Saturday they seemed better (ie, had gone a day with out vomiting). By Sunday morning I was nauseous; by the late afternoon I was throwing up. Ada joined me in this by the evening.

I stayed home from work Monday morning and hung out with Ian and Mira while Chris worked for a few hours and Ada snuggled in our bed. Mira was pretty perky but Ian had vomited again early in the day and was clearly not fully recovered. Ian came up to the couch and put his torso on it, while his feet remained on the floor. I rubbed his back and within a couple of minutes I heard... what's that? snoring.

Meanwhile, Ada posted the following on her door:

She'd originally wanted to ask her friends for sympathy presents, but Chris told her it might be better to requests cards. (Despite the learner's spelling, she is not actually asking for a Toyota.)