October 8, 2002 - Tuesday
It's Fire Safety and Awareness week at Harry's preschool and today the local fire department brought a hook and ladder truck by the school. You'd think Harry would be thrilled, but he was not and it's a real mystery why not. It's not that there are no explanations either. Late in the morning Harry's teacher called with the message that Harry said he wasn't feeling well, was moping around and lying in a corning, and was not interested in the firetruck. When I called her back Harry was up and running around and seemingly all better. But, the mystery remained.

When I picked him up from school, I asked Harry about the truck and he stuck with his story. "I was sick."
"Where were you sick?" I asked.
These inquiries haven't yielded much information in the past, but this time Harry was a little more forthcoming. He pointed at the left side of his tummy and said, "right here."
"Was it over here, too?" I asked pointing at his right side.
"It was."
Our discussion, with Harry in his car seat and me sitting below him on the door frame, went on like that for a couple of minutes, but hardly got any more revealing. In fact, it got more confusing.
"Did you like the firetruck?" I asked, taking a different approach.
"I didn't."
"Were you a little nervous about it?" I said, thinking maybe I was on to the real story."
"I was."
"Did you not go look at the firetruck because you were feeling nervous or because you were feeling sick?"
"I was sick."

That's about all I got. A follow-up conversation at bedtime seemed to confirm that Harry was both feeling a little poorly and was nervous about the firetruck. What remains unclear is whether he was sick because he was nervous, nervous because he was sick, or the two independently. And, if he wasn't sick with nerves, what was he sick about. His teacher says he was fine after a morning snack. Was that sickness 'hunger'? and ulcer? a shot to the stomach by another boy? (although I think he would have said that) or something that wasn't quite sitting right inside. Or, was it just something he learned to say that elicited a concerned response and needed more study on his part? Who knows?


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