runlikejoy

Displaced Stay At Home Californian in rural N. Carolina

The Many Faces of Joy

The Many Faces of Joy

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

How to get your kid to stop picking her nose


Today my 4 year old decided to take a small ball of kleenex, roll it into a small ball and shove it up her nose. It was about the size of a jelly belly or skittle. Since she spends a good portion of her day with her finger up her nose, she decided the best way to get it out was to do exactly that, stick her finger up her nose. Imagine her horror when it wouldn't come out but rather got pushed further and further up her nasal passage. So she sniffed a lot trying to dislodge it. Then she tried blowing her nose a bunch and that didn't work either. At this point she started picking her nose again frantically. When that didn't work, she started to freak out. She was sitting in the back of the car when this all happened and she tried to explain to me between hiccups and sniffs and crying hysterically that she couldn't get the toilet paper ball out of her nose.

When I finally figured out what she was trying to tell me between hiccups and wails and exaggerated sniffling, it was my turn to freak out. First I almost ran the car off the road. Then she started to spaz out and try to claw her way out of her carseat, which is really only a booster so she technically doesn't have to work too hard at getting out of it. Now I'm driving 10 miles an hour in a 50 mph zone and looking for a place to pull over. On top of all this, she is screaming hysterically and sniffling and snorting upwards instead of blowing out and I am shouting at her to stop because if it gets to far up then we'll have to go to the doctor.

When she heard the word 'doctor' she stopped abruptly (stopped crying, stopped hiccuping, stopped sniffling, stopped freaking out) and asked "will I have to have a shot?" To which I reply "if you don't stop sticking your finger in your nose or sniffing in, then she will have to put tweezers in your nose to pull the Kleenex out" at which she started sobbing in earnest and almost broke my heart.

Finally after what felt like forever (4 minutes) we got home and we ran into the house and since she had been completely still and stopped jamming her little finger up her nose, I had her blow vigorously into a kleenex and the ball dislodged itsself and she didn't have to go to the doctor. We did a lot of hugging and kissing after because it was quite traumatic.

She assured me a mintue ago for the 4th time that she won't be putting any more Kleenex in her nose "EVER again Mommy!" I also haven't seen her pick her nose for 2 full hours.

2 comments:

Christine said...

ROTFL! I know this wasn't at all funny when it happened, but the title really pulls you in :) You could try what my mother told me when I was little: Every time you pick your nose it will get bigger!

Whitney said...

Awesome story, minus the traumatic experience part!