Can we rent your grandma?

And on the first day of school...God created vomit.

So, it's the first day of school and I've just finished teaching second period when my cell phone rings. (Whoops -- gotta remember to turn that off during classtime.) It's Sophie's school. She has vomited four times in the two hours that she has been there this morning and they're really sorry because they know it's the first day of school for us, but the three things that'll get a kid booted from pre-school are fever, vomit, and a bounced tuition check.

I called Frank in a panic and it just happened to be his conference period (they're on block schedule, so he has an hour and a half block of time off), so he raced over to Sophie's school to pick her up and then...we didn't have that part figured out yet. I started calling all the people we know who happen to work out of their houses or stay at home with kids. (Of course, people with kids would rather invite a rabid dog inside than a vomiter.) No luck there.

Then I had a brainstorm -- one of my fellow teachers lives right down the street and his wife Jan retired last year and she looooves Sophie, so I ran upstairs and got her number from Sean. By the time Frank got to our house with Sophie, Jan was there, ready to be Grandma-for-the-Day. She grabbed Sophie from Frank, sat down in the rocking chair and held Sophie's forehead and pronounced her fever-free. Frank went back to work and Sophie didn't vomit again for the rest of the day and she was back to her old self by the time I got home from work.

We had to keep her home for 24 hours, so I took her to the doctor the next morning. Here's how that conversation went:

Me: She's had a cough and then she vomited at school (probably drainage) and her lungs sound raspy. She just started pre-school so we think it's the kennel cough.
Doc: Yep...she's sick. Probably a virus. Say "Ahhhhh" Sophie.
Sophie: No.
Doc: Okay. It's a virus. That'll be $20 please.

She got to spend Tuesday with her Daddy (he hired a sub, but went to school to meet each class, and then took Sophie outside to play, then to lunch with the Kealing crowd, then home to nap). She's almost cured now (and she's back at school), but the cough lingers.

Now I've got to work on my plan to:
1) get my dad to retire so he can pick Sophie up from school when she's sick
2) convince Granddad and Mamaw (Frank's folks) to move to Texas, or
3) figure out how to RENT a grandparent when we need one.
Think Craigslist will work?
Here's Sophie rejecting her new vitamin regimen. She guzzles down Tylenol, Triaminic, and cough syrup, but thinks cute animal-shaped, candy-tasting vitamins are YUCKY: