Saturday, April 19, 2008

Out of the mouth of TLM

"I know an old woman who swallowed a fly.
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
Perhaps she'll die."
Her screams woke me up at 1.30am. I went in, hoping she hadn't had a nightmare (the last time that happened, we were up for hours trying to resettle her). TLM pointed to a dark patch, next to her head on the mattress, saying "I die, I die" in a shaky voice. So I told her she wasn't dying; she'd just vomited.

Now, we've not been discussing the concept of death with TLM - I don't know when I will, either. But we have been reading together a beautifully illustrated book of the rhyme above. I can only assume she'd been dreaming of the old lady who, by the last page, has kicked the bucket due to ridiculously inappropriate ingestion.

TLM went on to wake up in puddles of vomit until 4am (which is how our laundry hamper went from empty to chockful overnight). But at least she no longer thought she was going to die.

4 comments:

nigel paddell said...

One of my early vivid memories was of how traumatizing vomitting can feel.
I can see how it can cause some confusion.

No Milk Please said...

i am not sure whether i would be so calm if i was woken up and i found vomit all over the place. my cat vomited and i was so worried i ended up paying $500 at the vet. i hate my cat. hope she's doing ok. kisses.

Violet said...

nigel: yeah, I hate the feeling of vomitting. I could never be a bulimic.

no milk: just the yuck factor would be bad enough eh? She's okay - better than that night anyway. Hope your cat doesn't feel guilty about the vet cost :-)

Angela said...

Oh dear. Maybe you should read her a bit happier poems before bedtime.
Perhaps nonvomit ones

Glad she is feeling a little better