"Just thinking of this creeps me out. How could a parent allow such a disgusting habit to have developed?" Dr. Ruth Peters wrote this morning on the Today Show website, about the habit of nose-picking.  

A little vehement for such a common practice, in my opinion.  To misquote Shakespeare, "Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

If in fact Dr. Peters is a closet nose-picker, she's not alone.  A 1995 study in the Journal of Psychiatry found that 91% of those surveyed admitted to picking their noses.

And the other 9% were probably lying about it.

Ever since I read that study, a couple of years ago now, I've backed off telling my kids not to pick their noses.  I've grouped that with other charming behaviors, like finger-sucking or the intense, masturbatory hip grinding my middle child has engaged in since she was in diapers, that I've instructed are best done in private.

But, if you feel as strongly about nose-picking as Dr. Peters, she does offer some suggestions on how to stop kids from doing it.  If distracting your kid isn't enough, she recommends putting a little petroleum jelly up the nostrils (now that really does sound gross to me), since most children don't care for the feel of vaseline.  Bandaging the index finger, to make it too big to fit in junior-size noses, might also help.  Dr. Peters also recommends keeping fingernails short, choosing a code word or phrase to alert your child if he's unconsciously picking his nose in public, and - my personal favorite - making children wash their hands every time they're caught red-handed fingered.

That sounds smart to me, teaching kids that washing their hands is a punishment.  Sounds like Dr. Peters is promoting the development of a really hygienic generation.

The fact is, there's only one sure fire way to keep your kids from picking their noses.  And that's not having any kids.