Sick day.

- My eyes are burning. Water is coming from them.
- That's because you have a fever, sweetie.
- Look. TEARS.
- Yep, I can see that.
- My throat really hurts when I drink. Hurts and stings.
- Oh boy.
- My nose won't stop sniffling. I'm using a million hundred tissues.
- You're one sick kid, all right.
- My ears are crackling. And when I close my eyes and release the power of my ears, it feels black.
- Wha--?
- It feels black. When I release the power.
- Uh, let's check that temperature again.

Comments

[kristi]

Oh, your sweet, looney boy is in my prayers.

[Allie]

Omg, I actually know what he means. Granted, I've had a hole in my eardrum for over ten years and five surgeries, but I know exactly how he feels. You might want to get those ears checked.. :)

[jules]

Ooofffff, that sounds like SOME-KIND-OF-FEVER. I hope he feels better soon!
Jules
House of Jules

[Cobblestone]

I was an adult {ok, so it was last year} when I first learned that not everyone experiences pain in color. Turns out my mom {and now my husband} have no idea what the difference between silver and bronze pain is.

Isn't it obvious?

[alice]

Hmm, actually, he described a foot itch once as feeling "orange." So maybe it's not delirium after all...

[Kim]

My son had the same complaints over the weekend - sure enough went to the ped today and he has strep throat. Hope your little man is feeling better soon.

[kelly]

oh dear, I hope he feels much better. Fever talk can be amusing, but kind of scary too.

[Jenn]

Sounds like synaesthesia to me! I was just like this as a kid. Well, slightly different--my complaint was that peas were too high-pitched to eat.

[sizzle]

"When I release the power" - that's fantastic. I'm sorry he's got crackling ears and a sore throat but that's some good blog fodder. :)

[Jozet at Halushki]

Ah yes...we had a verrrrrrry interesting fever conversation a few weeks ago. She was so intent on telling me about the man in the room trying to dance with her that I even checked under the bed. No dancing dudes.

[janny226]

Owww! We had a sick day today too. But without the fever. Duckyboy was sorely disappointed that he had a "Take-It-Easy Day" (as I used to call the slightly-sick-day-off-from-preschool days, since it was preschool so who cares) that he was too lethargic to really enjoy. He hasn't had too many actual Sick Days, which is a good thing. Not looking forward to one like yours!

[loonytick]

my five year old son has trouble with constipation every now and then, or as he calls is "red diamonds in his belly." Today his foot fell asleep and it was all weeping and wailing about tiny orange squares filling up his foot. Oh, and a couple of months ago we were hearing about the muscle in his left calf that had moved all the way up that leg and over into the other. Turns out he and another boy with the exact same shoes had taken them off and gotten them mixed up...he was wearing a too-small shoe on that side.

[jaelithe]

Aha! I have heard that synesthesia and sensory integration issues can go together. So maybe his ears have not actually been possessed by demons.

Have you ever asked him whether he thinks some words have a color, too?

[notjustbarbra]

I was thinking this was about your husband!

Har har. Men are babies when they're sick.

(And then I was going to say something about synesthesia, but some people beat me to it.)

[nicoleantoinette]

Ah. This is *totally* how I felt last week. Yep, just as feverish and delusional.

[Christi]

I think we have the same thing.

When I release the power in my nose, it's all black, too.

[Michelle]

Is this part of a video game I don't yet know about?

[Molly]

Your son is having a unique relationship with the English language.

As the commenter above mentioned, it does sound a little like synaesthesia. Read "A Mango Shaped Space" by...who? I don't remember now. Great story though.

[Twice Five Miles]

I used to describe feelings in colors, too. It would drive my mom crazy when I kept referring to something as a "light blue" sort of pain...

I stopped doing it when I realized nobody knew what I meant, but secretly I still describe things to myself that way sometimes.

[Weeze]

Hay fever was and is a red and fuzzy pain, like yarn. My subluxed sacral joints are tin-foil pain.

[Dee]

How exciting - and scary - the Ear Power is! My daughter [adopted from Russia 3 years ago] said the first time she got sick "My nose, it is FULL!" It was so funny, yet I couldn't laugh because I wanted her to know that I would save the day.

Take care,
Dee

[Catizhere]

Maggie had an "ear confection". She tells me that the "ear-juice" is coming out & getting stuck in her hair(eeew).

We gave her Motrin for the fever/pain & that kid jabbered about the silliest things!
She's never described her pain as colors though. She said that her throat hurt like
a Dorito was stuck in it.

I hope htat Henry feels all yellow soon (I don't know if yellow is a "good" color for him, but it's my fave. Sunny, warm, happy little daffodil yellow.

[Jonah Lisa]

What a brilliant description.

You should try to find a copy of My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss. It's probably a little below his reading level but the art is brilliant and each page is about different feelings and the colors the evoke.

[Sami]

Agreeing with many above - that totally makes sense. As a kid there was a specific feeling in my ears when I closed my eyes and "released the power of my ears" that signaled to me that I had a fever. Mine was more of a black-white-gray, like "snow" on a bad TV station; the Poltergeist kind, not the fluffy white stuff.

[Sami]

Agreeing with many above - that totally makes sense. As a kid there was a specific feeling in my ears when I closed my eyes and "released the power of my ears" that signaled to me that I had a fever. Mine was more of a black-white-gray, like "snow" on a bad TV station; the Poltergeist kind, not the fluffy white stuff.

[Tara]

That is some fever. And the comments are fascinating, too!

[Sus]

wow, that is some awesome use of the english language to describe pain and suffering. i love kids, just grabbing onto words and using them everywhere. hope he feels less crackling and black soon.

[Stephanie]

I totally remember saying ridiculous stuff while sick when I was little. I'd watch my hand and say to my mom, "It's growing. Look! It's growing!"

[Elizabeth]

I had no idea so many people related a color to a type of pain. But I can sympathize with Henry on the "crackling" ears, mine do that too when I am really congested. Hope he feels better soon!

[Kate C.]

"- It feels black. When I release the power.
- Uh, let's check that temperature again."

Oh gosh, been there. Hope he feels better soon!

[Shannon]

Your kid is awesome.

[Manic Mommy]

That's quite a superpower he has. I hate to tell you, but I think he'd fighting The Justice League rather than being in it.

Henry's got what my boys had in February - scary and mean. I hated the high temps. Feel better!

[Mom101]

Mark my words, he'll be the next Hemingway. Or at least Stan Lee.

(Once he gets better of course - hope it's soon.)

[AmK (Amy)]

One day, when I'm a mom, if I'm still able to stand, eat and use my fingers AND three remaining brain cells ALL AT THE SAME TIME all I can hope is to be half as funny as you.

[TChem]

Funny, to me, those words make total sense for a little person who has lots of language but not the words for "popping ears". I hate it when they're all pluggedy.

[Jessi Louise]

Aww, poor little bugger. When my youngest gets sick he usually tells me his brain is upside down. I love little kid descriptions.

[miep]

oh! Sami's comment above helped me to understand about ear power. There's a way I can sort of open my eustachian tubes that creates that sort of "white noise" feeling in my ears. It does feel like a release...

yeah, I get it!

[Velma]

I have a couple family members with synaesthesia, and I vividly remember my sister describing pain as colors when we were younger. Now it's mostly letters and numbers that have colors for her.

[Helen]

Oh man...that sounds even worse than when I close my eyes and release the power of my nose and it feels red and let me tell you, THAT is bad enough. Poor Henry.

[DM]

I once had a fight (well, actually I told them something and they laughed at me and then I yelled my point really loud and they laughed more) with friends about how I could taste purple. When they asked me how purple tasted, I believe my response was "You know. Purply."

For the life of me, I cannot remember what the heck we were talking about. But I was adamant that I was right.