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Did your family have a "sick bowl?"
By Megan Quinn — Written on Dec 02, 2022
Every once in a while, we stumble upon a strange concept on social media practiced by other families after initially believing the concept only occurred in our household growing up.
Twitter recently erupted with users who had a childhood memory unlocked when one user tweeted about her family’s “sick bowl.”
A mother's revelation about using a family "sick bowl" has internet users debating about the concept.
A “sick bowl” refers to any item, most commonly a bowl, that families provided for their sick children when hit with the stomach flu.
If the children could not make it to the restroom before they got sick, they were given the bowl as a substitute for the toilet.
The bowl was often pulled from the kitchen and could’ve previously been the family “popcorn” bowl during a movie night or a mixing bowl used while baking.
Although many families who used a “sick bowl” did not disclose it to anyone outside their home and it wasn’t a particularly talked about subject, people began to come forward with their experiences with the family “sick bowl” after Twitter user Sarah Turner (@TheUnmumsyMum) revealed that she intended to “break the cycle” of the family “sick bowl.”
“My kids have just discovered that the family sick bowl and the cake mix bowl are one and the same. In my defense, this was also the case when I was growing up,” she wrote.
“But now I’ve said it out loud, I realize I need to break the cycle. I won’t be taking any further questions.”
The tweet quickly went viral, receiving over 145,000 likes and over 4,200 retweets.
Some users shared that they too had a family 'sick bowl' growing up.
“Why was this my family? Mum started using the cake mix bowl as the sick bowl, and the soup pan to make dog food that made my ramen taste like vomit,” one user replied. “I will need to get a dedicated labeled 'Sick bowl' in my future place.”
“Our plastic mixing bowl/salad bowl is our sick bowl. When my mum made a salad in it at a big family party my daughter shrieked ‘but that’s the sick bowl!’ My mum just gave her a look and carried on serving the salad,” another user revealed.
“Same here. To compound the disgust, it was also the placenta bowl for each of my births,” one mother shared.
However, other users were disgusted and horrified by the concept of a “sick bowl.”
“Sick bowl?!?!?! Why the h-–l do you think we collect all those damn Walmart bags! You puke in it, wrap it, tie it, and throw it out the door,” one user wrote.
“Why is anyone throwing up in a bowl either way? Do you not have a toilet you can hug when sick?” another user questioned.
“Next they are going to tell us how they use the toilet as a backup sink,” another user wrote.
Users offered alternatives to “sick bowls,” with the argument that using kitchen bowls as “sick bowls” was unsanitary and unnecessary.
One user shared that they use disposable vomit bags that were easy and accessible as opposed to a bowl.
Others shared that they used trash cans when they were ill and were unable to make the trip to the restroom.
“Trash can with a plastic bag inside. We have them next to every toilet and in every bedroom. We keep bowls in the kitchen and only use them for food. This whole concept is disgusting, to be honest,” one user expressed.
“Buy a plastic bucket and line it with a trash bag when you're sick, easier to clean up and no cross-contamination,” another user suggested.
There continues to be a large debate surrounding “sick bowls” and it is an issue the Internet apparently feels very strongly about.
If your family uses a “sick bowl,” you may want to double-check that it is a bowl designated for usage during a bout of the flu, and not one that also serves as a mixing or popcorn bowl.
You may want to start mixing your cake batter in cups instead after coming across this side of the internet.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.