Colonel Krusteaz

I wish I could remember who gave us these two bowls as wedding gifts so many years ago…I would like to thank them both.

They are both nice bowls intended for use in making pancakes or waffles. One even contains the name brand of pancakes the manufacturer suggests we buy…how convenient.

But we didn’t need two pancake bowls…so one bowl sat unused for the first several years of our marriage. I’m glad we were poor college students back then and not yet in the mode of getting rid of things we didn’t use. We saved the unused bowl, having faith that we’d find a good use for it…someday.

And once we had children, it didn’t take very many vomiting episodes (especially the night-time ones) to realize that we needed the perfect bowl…a big bowl because throw-up tends to spray all over…but a short bowl that can fit under our bed for quick and easy access in the middle of the night…plus a plastic, non-breakable, lightweight bowl for ease in transportation…and one with a pouring spout, so transfer to the toilet is smooth and effortless.

Which bowl would you use??

For us, Colonel Krusteaz (doesn’t the name sound fitting?) has served our family’s vomiting needs for 9 years and has thus been nick-named The Throw-up Bowl. (Occasionally, we have to bring in a back-up bowl (but NOT the other pancake bowl, because once throw-up has been in it, we simply can’t use it for anything else) to help out when multiple children have the stomach flu at the same time…but surprisingly, The Throw-up Bowl handles most jobs alone. It does have to work long hours, because for example, we’ve had the stomach flu pass through twice in the last 2 months…that’s about 250 hours of on-call time (the boys and I narrowly escaped this most recent episode).)

While our children may not have fond memories of this beloved bowl, Brent and I will always treasure it as a fellow front-line trooper in the defense against virus and bacteria invaders. Colonel Krusteaz has aided us in winning many battles (and when he’s MIA, it’s NOT a pretty sight!). 

Brad Pitt once told Oprah about how parenting has changed him…(and I’m paraphrasing): I’m now a man of steel. I used to cringe whenever I saw or smelled pee-pee or poo-poo or snot or throw-up. But after having (and taking care-of) children, I can handle anything!

I agree with this statement. Nurturing my children (with natural bodily functions and all) has made me stronger, too. 

Kudos to all the parents out there who are also busy fighting battles day and night. The sacrifice is never in vain.