My wife's good friend had a birthday dinner Saturday night. My kids are transitioning from cribs to beds, still not consistent and not used to being put to bed by anybody but us. So, in order to attend, we opted to have a babysitter watch them while I went in a separate car from 6-7.30, the plan being to allow my wife to enjoy the party whle I'd came home to put them to bed. The other option was to have someone watch them after i'd gotten them to sleep, but that's far too unpredictable.
So I got them fed, went to the dinner, and came home early enough to get them to bed. I watched a bit of TV and decided on an early bed time myself. I went to check on the before going to sleep, they were fine, and just as I was leaving I heard my son rustle and then the clear sounds of retching and, well, liquids and solids. I promptly got him up, cleaned up, stabilized, and went about the cleaning of his bedding. This never happens, and it struck me that had I not been in the room at that exact moment, would I have heard anything? Would I have known he'd thrown up? Probably, as I'd expect he'd have made it known, but it was oddly timed and somewhat fortuitous. The early bed time was not to be, but then and now, i was so glad to have been there to be literally at his side when he had to go through this.
