'Young Sheldon' reveals the origin story of the 'Soft Kitty' song

"A Sneeze, Detention, and Sissy Spacek" - Pictured: Sheldon (Iain Armitage) and Meemaw (Annie Potts). When flu season hits Medford, Sheldon takes extreme measures to remain healthy, on YOUNG SHELDON, Thursday, Feb. 1 (8:31-9:01 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Darren Michaels/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. © 2017 WBEI. All rights reserved. (© 2017 WBEI. All rights reserved.)

The boy-genius finds himself forced to confront his germophobia when the flu comes to town in the latest episode of “Young Sheldon.” However, it’s not long before germs become the least of his worries.

The episode opens with Sheldon and Georgie in class together. As they learn English, the teacher sneezes. Sheldon preps his things and immediately leaves class when she sneezes again, proving to him that she has the flu. As anyone who has been in a classroom knows, leaving without permission is a big no-no.

The Coopers get called in to meet with the principal where he informs them that he’ll have to give Sheldon detention. George Sr. is pleased, noting that Sheldon needs to learn he’s not special. Mary, on the other hand, knows that Sheldon is special, and has a motherly worry that he’ll be beaten up by the bad kids.

On the day in question, Sheldon lands himself a suspension when he ditches detention after it’s revealed that the teacher who runs it suggests he may be sick as well.

“You’ve heard of fight or flight,” he says. “This is flight.”

His parents are frantic trying to figure out how to cure him of his germophobia. Mary even goes as far as to bring him to the doctor, but it doesn’t go very well.

“Why are we taking medical advice from someone who smokes?” he asks.

That’s when he realizes that he needs to take flu prevention into his own hands. Mary goes to give him a list of chores to do while he’s home suspended from school only to discover he’s built a real bubble-boy situation in the garage. She uses her usual tactics to try and coax him out, but his germophobia is too strong at this point. Things devolve into her chasing him around the garage and screaming. She retreats back inside to have a much-needed beer with Meemaw. With Mary’s tactics a complete failure, Meemaw tries something new.

After coaxing him out with cookies doesn’t work, she turns his Texas pride into the real issue. She notes that some of the famed Texas heroes wouldn’t have been able to do anything if they had a crippling fear of the flu. It works and the boy emerges from the garage.

Sadly, he’s a super-genius for a reason as he immediately catches the flu. However, there’s a silver lining to the illness that was sure to delight fans of the series’ source material, “The Big Bang Theory.” While nursing Sheldon back to health, Mary sings “Soft Kitty” for the first time. Fans will know this as the song older Sheldon asks people to sing him when he’s ill. There you have it, another origin revealed.