I woke up around 4:15 this morning to an upset eight year old conversing with me as though I'd been awake for hours. Usually, when he needs something in the middle of the night or early morning before I'm up, he does the normal shoulder tap accompanied by a gentle whisper of "mommy, are you awake?" but this time was different. He was already in full conversation mode by the time my left eye sluggishly began to open. "What?" I asked, and then I heard him continuing with "...and I think I threw up..." at which point his little voice began to drift off again. At this point, I wasn't even sure what was real and what was just a vomit detail of a dream gone gross, but there it was again, this time louder - "and it's on my bed..." One eye fully open now, I asked him to repeat the problem. "I threw up and it's in my bed," he loudly responded. Surprisingly, even then, I was still a little confused about what was happening and I wondered how long he had been talking into my nearly deaf ear. "Did he say he threw up and it's in his bed?" I asked my husband with a few firm pats on the back to make sure he was also awake. "Huh?" was his barely audible reply. As the seconds passed, I became increasingly aware of my consciousness and somehow managed to open both eyes. Coordination absent, I got out of bed and stumbled through the dark hotel room, certain not to miss the shoes left out in the middle of the floor. After I groggily found my way to the bathroom, I gave my eyes a good rub, flipped on the light, and called my son over to me. And then I saw it...
