Gagging seems to run in my family. I guess we are just the retching kind. My brother is the ultimate perpetrator. Because he is a longtime committed smoker, every morning he has to clear the lung butter from his throat – which often leads to a violent gagging session.

This ritual has become so common place that he doesn’t even question whether or not it is unique to his life experience. Case and point, one morning when I was in my 20’s, I was staying with my parents and woke up incredibly hungover and immediately had to vomit. The way the house is set up is that my mom’s office (which was where my mom and brother were drinking coffee) is right next to my bathroom (which was where I was barfing).

My Mom: Laszlo, have you seen your sister yet this morning?

My brother Laszlo: I haven’t seen her but she is awake, I can hear in the bathroom dry heaving. She will be out soon.

You see, my brother wasn’t questioning why I might have been retching, or if I was in fact okay, because he just assumed that is how every human starts their day – gagging.

Soooooooo… over the weekend, The Munch decided she wanted me to make her some hot cocoa.

Munch: Mamma, let me scoop the hot cocoa into the cup.

Toni: Okay sure. Go ahead.

Munch: Can I taste it?

Toni: I really don’t think you want to do that. It is harder to ingest powder than you think.

Munch: Well, can I have just a little bit?

Toni: Sure. Knock yourself out.

Now, I knew this was going to be a disaster, because I too have once tried to eat powder. But I felt like this was a life lesson she had to learn on her own. So The Munch of course put a heaping spoonful into her mouth, and immediately started coughing as cocoa powder flew through the air.

Toni: See Munch, there is just not enough moisture in your mouth to deal with all that powder.

The coughing soon turned into gagging, and a near close avoidance of spewing.

Then about an hour later I went into the kitchen because I heard my cat retching. Now I am not sure if you have ever heard the gurgling sound of a cat about to blow chunks, but it is unmistakable. I thought I if I could only get there in time, maybe I could put a towel under the cat’s soon-to-be-leaking mouth. I was, however, too late and watched the cat throw up all over The Munch’s clean laundry that was on the table.

Toni: Ahhhhhhhh!

Munch: What’s the matter Mamma? What happened?

Toni: The cat just did pukey-pukey all over your pajamas!

Munch: I wanna see!! Whoa. Why did she do that?

Toni: I don’t know.

Munch: Is she sick? Does he have a fever?

The Munch couldn’t take her eyes from the cat-tastrophe (ha ha), and then started gagging while looking at the regurgitation of cat food and mouse intestines.

Toni: Munch, stop looking at it! You are going to puke!

And then she did.