When it started, it was sort of funny and we could easily distract her. But now, if we dare ask her to get her finger out of her nose, she reacts as if we have taken away her one true love. We ask pointedly DO YOU NEED A TISSUE or remind her that she gets BLOODY NOSES when she does this and does she really want another BLOODY NOSE...HMMMM???? and neither of these tactics seem to deter her.
Today, at the playground, I chatted with a random mom (Check me out! I'm working on being FRIENDLY.). As I cooed at her adorable 8 month old twins, Zoe sat silently on my hip. Random Mom was grinning at Zoe and then all of a sudden, the smile stayed on her lips but left her eyes. I glanced at my lovely daughter to find out what caused the smiling eyes to disappear and, of course, I saw that at least two digits worth of a pointer finger were deeply imbedded up a nostril. That's my little charmer.
As with most behavioral challenges, I initially hoped to place the blame elsewhere. The first time her finger found it's new home was on a day she'd been at daycare. So the next time I went in, I asked a teacher about it. "Oh yeah, they're ALL doing that right now." she said. I KNEW IT. She said "they" but I know exactly who the troublemakers are and I made sure to reinforce my concern with Zoe.
"You know, Zoe, when Johnny does something, anything, MOST THINGS, it might be a good idea to NOT DO IT. Do you understand? Whatever Johnny does, DO THE OPPOSITE." (Name has been changed to protect the TOTAL TROUBLEMAKER.)
Zoe looked at me like I looked at my high school French teacher whenever he said anything besides "Bonjour!".
Then I realized that there is a photo in our living room, on a shelf Zoe can easily see, of my darling husband and his siblings, dressed to the nines for a wedding, all with their fingers up their noses. (The fact that we have this photo prominently displayed probably tells you a little too much about us.) We often use this photo to reinforce Zoe's adoration of her aunt and uncle who live too far away.
And there you have it. We can only blame ourselves (and our prominently displayed photos demonstrating poor behavior). Isn't that always the way?
3 comments:
Sadly, we usually decide when it's time to cut Mimi's fingernails based on her getting nosebleeds the same way.
Isn't it so incongruous looking when an adorable little girl (say, MY OWN, for example) is being all charming and yet has half her hand wedged up on of her own body cavities? Addy likes to shove her fist in her mouth, and suck on it. I think she sees Eli sucking his thumb and figures, "If ONE appendage is good, the WHOLE THING would be even more soothing!"
And she totally picks at her nose, too.
When I was little, my grandma told me that everyone picks their nose, but if I needed to do it, I needed to do it in the bathroom.
That's what I try to tell my kids. They still all pick their nose, and they still do it in places besides the bathroom. *SIGH*
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