So boy was not feeling well last night. I was asking him about his sypmtoms and when I felt his forehead, I noticed he felt cool. I told him maybe he was running a low temp.

Boy: "What do you mean a 'low temp'? "
me: "I mean that instead of having an elevated body temperature, you have a reduced body temperature."
Boy: "I didn't think that was possible. I've never heard of that. How can that be?"

(this is him secretly doubting me, like the time I explained to him that no, when cells die, they don't circulate through one's body until they get to a hair folicle or fingernail bed and then come out. He really thought this was how it worked. Seriously. Needless to say, what followed was a serious discussion about liver, kidney and spleen function.)

Anyway...I'm big on the whole proper explanation and education thing, so I said:

"In the same way an infection can make your cells' mitochondria become hyperactive and result in an elevated body temperature, it can also cause your mitochondria to slow down and lower your body temperature.

Boy: "I threw those away."



Oh geez did I laugh. Very funny boy.
I dunno. Perhaps you had to have been there.