Diagnosing Blood-Dots

Just as I was about to put the boys to bed tonight, I noticed several tiny red, almost blood-colored dots across Daniel's face. I frantically checked his hands, arms and legs for the same pattern, ut didn't find anything.

Daniel provided his own, very plausible explanation:

"You know in the movies, you see people with stars going around their heads? Well, I think this is like blood-dots."

Ian explained to Daniel that the stars that whirl around people's heads in the movies are not real.

Presuming that this was some kind of Bavarian Mumps condition, I went into the master-bedroom, and asked Amy if she knew anything about Daniel's spots. Suddenly, she mentioned a known, and very real commodity, which I hadn't considered: pomegranate juice. I got a wash-cloth and quickly washed the measles from Daniel's face. Daniel confirmed: he had been squeezing pomegranate seeds between his fingers, releasing the juice, with the probably-unintended effect of generating the dreaded blood-dots across his face.

(November 21, 2011)