Wisdom of Rufus, the Middle Child #309

This one has a rather complicated set up...

As Opry and Dr. Fill and all them other smart peoples on the TV have told me he would, Rufus has become THE MIDDLE CHILD, the one who isn't the oldest and isn't the baby and is somehow lost in the middle. Thank goodness Rufus has a very loud voice, or else I might lose him in the piles of laundry and dirty dishes.

Both the baby and the eldest have had a stomach virus. The baby's was not as bad, but Boudreaux had to stay home from school for two days. His virus had then moved from north to south. Thinking that the barforama was over (it had been two days since the last upheaval, after all), we decided that a little Mexican food might be just the ticket to sooth our week-weary spirits.

While it seemed like a good idea at the time, Boudreaux's stomach later decided that we were not as bright as we thought we were, so about 9:45 PM last night--at the conclusion of a long day and a very long week, just as I had gotten everyone in bed and was turning off the lights so I could go to sleep--the cheese enchilada festival ended up spread across the bathroom floor.

In true form, Boudreaux just froze in place, not bothering to pick up the plastic garbage can 10 inches from his foot and make his deposit there. No, instead he sat in place and just started shrieking like his toenails were being pulled out while broadcasting...stuff...in unnaturally large amounts...everywhere. It was sort of like the Exorcist Goes TexMex.

This event happened, in actual measurement, about four feet from the sleeping baby, separated only by a thin wall. So, of course, the shrieks, besides scaring the bejesus out of me, also sent the baby into hysterics.

Fifteen minutes, three dustpans full of enchilada stew, one bath, 212 "quit shouting"s, and five minutes of soothing the screaming infant later, Boudreaux was back in bed, the girlchild was in my arms almost under control, and I was mentally giving myself permission to ingest a double-serving of cheap white wine as a reward. Thinking in amazement how Bumpus had slept through this episode and being thankful that 3 out of 5 of us were all escaping this virus, I tiptoed out the boys' room, patting the baby and making some sort of "shh shh, it's okay" mumblings. As I did...

"See Mama?" issued forth from the darkness.

"See what?" I asked Rufus.

"That's what I mean when I say I never get in any attention."