When my daughter was about two I tried to get creative and find ways
to
keep her from her newest habit, the one where her hand was suspended in
front of her face, dangling by one finger firmly planted in a
nostril. "What do you have in there?" I teased, "Ponies?"
That got a smile which I could still glimpse, hidden as it was behind
the hand, still dangling by that lone finger, digging. Okay, so
subtle didn't work. What next? "Could I have some of that?"
I joked. Always obliging and amazingly generous for a
two-year-old, she removed the finger long enough to offer me what was
on it.
Okay,
so I'm a miserable failure at stopping nose-picking. What about
you? Is this a problem in your house? Nose-picking Parenting expert
Marilyn Heins gives advice in this column to a mom fed up by her kid
who's now being shunned for his public nasal excavations. He's seven and
eats what he mines or wipes it on his sweater, and the teacher and
the other kids are so grossed out by this they make him sit alone (I say
that the teacher needs a good talking-to; where does she get off doing
that to the poor kid?). Of course, they could just start calling
him "Booger" and I'll bet it won't take him long to stop, but
Marilyn offers up this advice instead:
1. Don't call attention to it. (Hello? He's already been segregated becauseof it. You think this kid hasn't a clue that he picks his nose?)
2.
When he does, take him firmly by the shoulders and say, "This behavior
is not acceptable. If you must pick your nose, please do it in
private." Okay, that one I can accept. And it's better than yelling, "Ewwwwwww!" and running away shrieking.
3. Minimize the crusties in there, which will minimize the irritation and therefore the temptation.
4.
Self-flagellation: snap a rubber band around the kid's wrist for
him to use whever he has the picking urge. (Okay, this one's a
little too weird for me.)
What about you? Do you have any successful anti-picking strategies? (My daughter did eventually quit, by the way.)
