Ascending Mount Vomit: A Truly Unbelievable Story

Author of 5 books, podcaster, parent trainer, husband and father.

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I'll never (and I mean, NEVER) forget the night. It was 7 years ago and I can remember it as clear as today.

We had tickets to see Beauty And The Beast at a local high school in the community we lived in.

This was not any high school musical production. The manner in which this school’s theater department put on shows was nothing short of Broadway excellence. I’m not exaggerating. Because of the show quality we couldn’t wait. We knew we were in for a real treat. What was even more exciting was that we were taking our then 3 and 4 year old daughters to see the performance. As with every little girl, they both thought they were a Disney Princess.

The night arrived and we dressed our girls up in their Cinderella and Belle princess dresses. They looked adorable. I had noticed earlier in the day that our 3-year old daughter, Jaala, wasn’t feeling all that great. In fact, at one point, when she coughed at lunch, a little spit up/vomit splattered out onto the table. But I ignored it and focused on the wonderful evening we had planned ahead.

We arrived early to the theater, took our seats, nestled our Disney Princesses soundly on our laps and awaited for the curtain to open. When it did, we were awestruck- a spotless performance, by high school kids no less! The musical was bright, laser sharp and entertaining… for at least Act I.

As we neared intermission my daughter Jaala sat upright on my wife’s lap, methodically turned her head, looked Kristin in the eye, opened her mouth and released a river (yes a river) of vomit down the front of her, over both legs and onto the floor beneath her seat. In the blink of an eye we scooped both girls up and rushed for the door.

Outside, I pulled my (then) brand new Chevy Malibu up to the entrance and loaded our other daughter up. As we peeled Jaala’s soaked dress off, Kristin had a realization. “I’m covered in puke,” she said, looking at me with shock. “What do you want to do?” I asked. “I think there’s only one thing to do,” she replied.

And there in the parking lot of the biggest high school in the state of Indiana, my wife stripped out of her soaked clothes and got into my car wearing just her underwear. She was not laughing, but I was!

Now, if you think this is bad, here’s what happened 2 days later-
Feeling bad that we did not get to see the rest of the musical, a kind parent of one of the cast members gave us 4 free tickets down by the stage- killer seats! Same routine- we dressed our girls up, headed to the theater, took our seats and enjoyed another great performance. That is until, in the same spot in the musical as 2 nights earlier, my daughter Jaala sat up, methodically turned and looked at my unassuming wife again, and released an even bigger (yes even bigger) river of vomit all over her.

This time, we were sitting in an area that was slanted toward the orchestra pit. So as my wife was scooping up her stuff and my sick daughter, I’m trying to get the attention of the elderly couple of front of us to tell them that vomit is running toward their feat below. It was no use. We vacated the premises (again) and headed for home before intermission (again). The unfortunate thing was that Jaala ended up hospitalized for a few days with dehydration. But everything was okay and we eventually got back to a normal life (well, sort of).

Isn’t parenting fun?

This post is filed under the category of “confessions.” I must confess- we’ve had many stories like this and if you’ve raised kids, or are smack dab in the middle of raising them, you probably do to. Parenting is an adventure- the good, the bad, and the very very disgusting and ugly!

Question: Do you have an embarrassing parenting story? Take some time to share and join in the conversation! (**Please note- comments with vulgarity, foul language or excessively graphic details will not be posted

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Mike and Kristin Berry are the Co-Founders of The Honestly Adoption Company and have been parents for nearly two decades. They are the authors of six books, and the host of The Honestly Adoption Podcast.

Sarah Gray

Sarah Gray is the executive assistant to Mike and Kristin Berry. And she is the best in the land. In addition to providing a warm and friendly response to the many emails our company receives on a weekly basis, she also manages Mike and Kristin’s speaking and meeting schedules, and makes sure that team events go off without a hitch.

Nicole Goerges

Nicole Goerges is a Content Contributor & Special Consultant for The Honestly Adoption Company. She works with Mike and Kristin as a recurring co-host for the Honestly Adoption Podcast, and co-host of Kitchen Table Talks, exclusive video content for Oasis Community, along with Kristin. She is a fellow adoptive mom, and former foster parent.

Matt McCarrick

Matt McCarrick is the Content Production Specialist for The Honestly Adoption Company. If you’ve loved listening to our podcast, or enjoyed any of the videos trainings we’ve published, you have Matt to thank. He oversees all of our content production, from video edits, to making sure the tags are correct on YouTube, to uploading new videos to Oasis, to hitting publish on a podcast episode, he’s a content wonder!

Karen Anderson

Karen Anderson is the Community Engagement Specialist for The Honestly Adoption Company. She spends the bulk of her time interacting with, and helping, people through our various social media channels, as well as providing support for Oasis Community members through chat support or Zoom calls. In the same spirit as Beaver, Karen is also passionate about connecting with parents and making them feel loved and supported. Karen is also an FASD trainer and travels often, equipping and encouraging parents.

Beaver Trumble

Beaver Trumble is the Customer Care Specialist for The Honestly Adoption Company. Chances are, if you have been in need of technical support, or forgotten your password to one of our courses, you have interacted with Beaver. He is an absolute pro at customer care. In fact, he single-handedly revolutionized our customer care department last year. Beaver is passionate about connecting with parents and making them feel loved and encouraged.

Kristin Berry

Kristin Berry is the co-founder of, and Chief Content Specialist for, The Honestly Adoption Company. She spends most of her time researching and connecting with guests for our podcast, as well as direction, designing and publishing a lot of the content for our social media channels, blog and podcast. She loves to connect with fellow parents around the world, and share the message of hope with them.

Mike Berry

Mike Berry is the co-founder of, and Chief Marketing Specialist for, The Honestly Adoption Company. He spends the bulk of his time and energy designing and building many of the resources you see within our company, as well as social media and email campaigns. His goal is to use media as a means to encourage and equip parents around the world. He is also the co-host of The Honestly Adoption Podcast.