Wednesday, February 17, 2010

What was I thinking.... How to Survive a Hangover with a Toddler

What a weekend, for the girl who rarely goes out on the town anymore. I sure did seem to make up for it all in one night. I guess this is why my sister has nicknamed me "One Night Sally". I seem to avoid going out, but when I do, watch out.

Saturday Night

It was my good friend Shawn's 40th birthday. Needless to say, I was not missing this for the world. Shawn, and his partner Gary throw the best parties, in fact they are rather infamous for great food, drinks, music, dancing and even sometimes entertainment (drag shows like you wouldn't imagine). So Saturday rolled around, and I could not wait to get dressed up, and have a great night out with hubby and with good friends. It almost felt like the old days before Chickpea came along. You know what I am talking about, life before baby, when you could be spontaneous, stay out all night, sleep in the next day. Ahhhhhh those days long past.

Well we got to the party, and in true fashion the party was amazing. Amazing food, great music, great friends, and to top it all off alcohol flowed like the Missippi river. In fact I think it was around my third cocktail, that I started to wonder how I was going to manage Chickpea the next day. See this is where most people would make note of reality, but no, not I, "One Night Sally" was on a roll and she wasn't slowing down anytime soon.

It was in the wee hours of the morning when hubby and I made it back from the party. I don't remember much of the details, but according to my husband the babysitter had a good laugh seeing me out of my normal character. The next thing I recall was waking up because the bedroom would not stop spinning (bad sign, very bad sign). I decided to get out of bed and go downstairs to grab some Motrin and a glass of water. I knew things where bad when I couldn't even open the baby gate at the top of the stairs. After a few humbling attempts to open the gate, I just decided to climb over (bad idea, really bad idea since I still have the bruise to show for it). So I basically missed the step and went down the first flight of stairs on my bum (OUCH!). After finally making it down stairs, I attempted to hydrate and medicate myself; in hopes of minimizing what I already knew was going to be a painful morning.

I think it was ten minutes after 6:00 am, when I heard Chickpea. Note to all of you parents out there, do not go out drinking with the expectation that your little one will take pity on you and sleep in. No, for me, it was a very early wake-up call. When I finally came to, all I could feel was a pounding in my head that rivaled a jackhammer breaking up concrete. The only thing that could be worse was the way my mouth and tongue felt (imagine dryness like the Sahara, and feeling like you licked pavement all night long). Or as my dear friend Mimi says, "It feels like a cat just crapped in my mouth".

Needless to say it was a very rough morning, and an equally rough day. So in my misery I thought I would try to come up with a how to list. So here it goes.


How to Survive a Hangover with a Toddler:

1. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate (if you hate drinking water like myself try Gatorade, it works great and was invented at my alma mater GO GATORS!)

2. Enlist your husband, partner, or any willing human being to help take care of your toddler, while you recover from your very bad idea to indulge in alcohol.

3. Follow the B.R.A.T. diet until your bowels decide they are no longer pissed off at you (and no this is not a reference to your child) B for bread, R for rice, A for apples/ applesauce, T for toast.

4. Resist temptation to sedate your child, instead wait until his/her naptime, and follow suit, sleep and rest will help you through this rough time.

5. Avoid taking common pain killers like aspirin, Tylenol and ibuprofen. There affects can be magnified when alcohol is in your system, so it is best (even though it may be the first thing you reach for) to avoid them to kill the hangover pain. Aspirin is a blood thinner, just like alcohol, and can intensify its effects and Tylenol (or acetaminophen) can cause more damage to your liver. Ibuprofen can also cause stomach bleeding. So be cautious when going for the quick relief.

6. When all else fails, Hair of the Dog that bit you (preferably a Bloody Mary).

In all reality if you are going to tie one on, be sure to have the grandparents or someone you trust take your toddler for a couple of days. That way you can relive your old college days of sleeping in, eating crappy food, and lying on the couch all day in efforts to nurse your hangover.

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