“Mommy, I’m going to throw up…braaaaaak!!!”
But that’s just from (immediate) personal experience. Any other nominations?
Don’t forget the all time favorite: “Oops.”
Or simply any mystery sound that you can’t identify.
Such as the sound of a toddler rolling over a carpet of cheezyballs. Indescribable, really.
How about the ever-popular, “What are you doing up there?” followed by a long silence, then, “Nothing!”
how about the piercing scream? or (in my house) something like “THUNK!” followed by “owwww! owwww! owwww! owwww!!! wahhhhhhh!” and the sound of someone jumping up and down in agony.
the OP has to be the best one so far…“mommy, i gotta throw up!” can instantly wake me from a coma.
Your kids warn you when they’re gonna hurl? Mine never have. They just get real quiet for a few seconds, and about the time I realize something isn’t quite right here — bwargff!!!
So for me it’s the ear-piercing shriek that gets me moving the fastest, too. Actually I believe that has some sort of resonance with the human spine that causes the nerves to start acting on their own, because I start moving before my brain even processes the noise.
Silence, for more than about 5 minutes. Even though they’re 9 and 12 and have their own computers, I gotta get up and see what’s going on.
Vlad/Igor
It was all very strange. Our son comes into our room couple times week, due to “monsters” or “bad dreams” (he’s 4, btw). Last night he was sleeping on my wife’s side of the bed, and he kind of woke me up with a story of monsters. Then I heard him say, “I’m going to frow up - braaakwwwwwkkk”
Instantly, we were both wide awake and taking him to the bathroom. Amazingly, he was fine after puking. He changed his clothes and got cleaned up and then went straight to sleep. While his mother and I changed sheets and tried to clean up carpet etc.
He’s not behaved in such a polite fashion while getting sick before, though. maybe he’s setting a precedent?
I’m with Vlad/Igor. Screams get to be old hat after a while. You can almost tell what’s going on by the volume or intensity. But nothing stand my hair on end like complete silence, you just know they’re up to something.
Another vote for silence.
Nothing is scarier.
I’m not a parent, but there’s nothing that got my mom moving more than that deathly Something’s Going On silence.
“That water in the little jar in the garage tastes awful.”
Two-year old escapes the not-as-attentive-as-he-should-have-been dad’s eye for one minute. Sipped some paint thinner.
Spit it out, fortunately, but with a 2-year-old you can’t be sure. I made HIM call the pediatrician to ask for advice and get thoroughly bawled out.
Uh Oh gets us moving pretty quickly…
but complete silence is the worst.
I’ve never been warned that vomit is forthcoming. The worst was the day of her second birthday party. She threw up all over me, the chair, the floor, the dog, her rocking horse and a footlocker we keep fireplace stuff in. Curdled milk and half digested hot dog - yummy.
Other nominations are “stuck” and “broken.” These are generally accompanied by the above “Uh oh.”
I fail to see how consulting Brak is going to accomplish anything. You should tell your child to consult Space Ghost, or perhaps even Zorak, regarding nausea.
A trail of blood spots leading into the bathroom where one is crying between screams.
Snooooopy, I was waiting for some smart apple to coment on my choice of words there…
No, you don’t win a prize or anything.
Silence is only a bad thing with my daughter (she’s 2). My son is a budding young couch potato, sio if he’s quite it’s just the TV. My daughter, however, is the mess-maker type. If I don’t hear her for a few minutes, I dread looking for her…It’s been nothing more serious than a few bottles of lotion (althouhgh one was rather expensive), a roll or two of toilet paper or a box of kleenex. But she’s been escalating…
For a few months it was “I haffa go POOOOOOOOOpies!!!”. Now that the child has better control I have to vote for The Dread Silence.
…and “I’m washing the cat” in response to my question “what are you doing in there?”
I have one of those also - she will be three in may - and 15 minutes of silence brought us what we laughingly call the
great marker massacree.
be afraid - be very afraid 
Your acknowledgment is my prize! I love seeing my name in bold letters.
When I had a second-floor studio, I heard my two-year old son yelling “Hi! Hiiiiii!!!” from the other room. “Odd,” I thought to myself, “The acoustics in here almost make it sound like he’s outside on the roof of the downstairs por–”
I was seven months pregnant, and I made the mad dash from the kitchen, through the living room, and through a window roughly the size of your computer monitor in about a tenth of a second flat. He was standing on the corner of (unrailed) porch roof, waving at the cars in the intersection below. Got him safely back inside, and I still marvel at the fact that I was able to squeeze through that little window, given the size of my butt at the time.
A less scary one that always gets me moving is: “Hold still. I can’t CUT it when you keep moving.” There’s just no good outcome for that one, y’know?