When it comes to me and kids, I can handle the serious stuff. Give me: you need stitches (I can handle minor cuts and scrapes too). Give me you're in respriatory or cardiac arrest. I can handle you're choking too. I can take sprained ankles and broken bones. Give me anything along that kind of stuff and I'm perfectly fine. I can swing right into motion without thinking twice. Give me you don't feel good ...your sick. What am I going to do? I'm going to look at you like you have 3 heads while I shush the adrenaline and figure out what to do. I haven't raised kids. I live vicariously through others in this department. I don't know off the top of my head what to do for a 10 year that's got an upset stomach besides hold the asprin.
Last week I got 2 crash courses in parenting. Previous posts have covered 1 of them a bit. Looking back at them it's rather scketchy and behind the cut covers both of them with a little humor. I can laugh now.
So Monday night's Crash Course: What to do for a 10 year old that had an upset stomach in the middle of the night.

Scenario: You are going upstairs into your apartment on the 3rd floor. The 13 and 10 year olds that you are taking care of are asleep in the main part of the house 1 floor below you on the second floor. You told them when they went to bed that if they needed anything during the night and the downstairs lights were off you would be right upstairs. As you open the door to your apartment to go from the 2nd to the 3rd floor you hear the 10 year old "C" call you from the bathroom and say that they don't feel good. You go in and discovet that they have thrown up (thankfuly in the toilet so no cleanup). What do you do? Remember you have not had experience with this before (at least with children and thankfully the sight of emesis doesn't make you sick)
In my world I sat down with her and felt her forehead. Not warm. Good.
Asked if she wanted any Pepto {Bismol}. Refused. Me thinking ok, what next...

Asked her what mommy usually does. She's doesn't remember. Me thinking ok...

I look up and see a washcloth...Score. Wet it and put it on her forehead. She feels a little better. Good.
Ask if she wants to lay in the living room. No, she wants to go back to bed. Ok.

Get her back to bed with another washcloth (other one used to wipe mouth), told to make sure she stays on side, and given a bowl just in case.

Then leave her mom a voicemail and call a friend to make sure I did right. Think My crash course is over yet...Nope. I ended up staying up with "C" for another 4 hours with her getting up sick 2-3 times an hour. Couldn't come up with anything else to do for her. She kept refusing pepto, figured if her mom wanted her to have it then her mom can make her take it when she gets home. Finally her mom came home didn't get message till shift was over and took over. Thus ending my crash course in parenting till 2 days later and another incident which I could handle.2 days later...It's mid afternoon and "N" and "C" want to go downstairs and say hi to the downstairs tenant. "N" wants to hang out. I say ok and as for the hanging out as long as it's ok with them. Next thing know there's yelling and crying. I walk into the other room. They are yelling at each other"C" through tears and is holding her arm. What to do? Noone to call in this case and it's storming out (everything is icing).

Starters...get them to stop. I'm not even going to try and sort out who did what to who. I just tell them their mom can sort it out when she gets home. Since "C" was in the room first she gets to stay in that room to watch tv. "N" can either go upstairs in the grandparents room to watch tv or in the other room where I am and do the same. hey they both wated to watch tv and there's nothing else to do.

now that they are separated swing into evaluation mode. What hurts? Arm/Wrist. Apparently "N" twisted it. Can you move it? "C" does. Can you move your fingers? good. I check for swelling and there's none nor any bruising. BY now I'm sinlently cursing the sibling out. Go make ice pack and give it to "C" with instructions to keep it on. I'll chek on her, but if anything changes let me know. So we all survived intact, sane, and ready to go another day. Do I want to keep watching the kids??