Quarter to Three

I believe it was Ray Romano who said, "having children is like living in a frat house - nobody sleeps, everything's broken and there's a lot of throwing up."

2:45 AM

From the next room came the unexpected sound of spaghetti.  That is to say a spontaneous re-analyzation of caloric intake...vomit.

"Hang on I'm coming!" I said as I leaped out of bed, sprinted into the next room and vaulted over the sleeping child on the air mattress.  "Oh, sweetheart, it'll be alright."

"Okay," Logan said as he proceeded to hose down the remaining vomit-free portions of his bed.

I remember being struck by the lack of crying, tears and general dissent from his two older brothers.  The entire morning had just unraveled and I was up to my elbows in...well, let's just say, it was very unsanitary.  Instead, the room had an air polite interest.

"Hey, Dad," Ethan called down from the upper bunk as if he had been waiting all night for me to arrive and could now, finally, strike up a conversation.

Really?  Now?  I glanced down at the mattress to see Justin, looking back, wide awake as though he too were ready to join in the discussion.

"What did Logan eat for dinner?" Ethan asked.

Have a look for yourself.

"The same thing as everyone else," I said, trying to concentrate on the newly formulated clean-up plan.

"I've never smelled spaghetti like that before."

Thank you, Ethan. 

- 28 December 2011