I have a "friend" who has a 3 1/2 year old daughter. This little girl is darling in every way except for one little nasty habit...she eats her boogers. This mom has tried to pursuade her daughter to not do this, but it nothing has worked so far.
This little girl knows her mom doesn't like booger-eating, so now when she does it, she says, "Mom, don't look". Or she goes and hides in a corner. Her mom doesn't want her to feel like she needs to be ashamed and get in the habit of hiding certain behaviors from her. At the same time, she doesn't want to encourage these little snacks either.
The other day, my friend's husband asked their daughter why she likes eating her boogers so much. The daughter said, "Because Mom doesn't feed me at night!"
Has anyone had a similar experience? Any advice to offer my friend? I'll pass it along to her.
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Sister Lockard 2.0!
2 months ago
7 comments:
I would tell the little girl that there are monsters living under her bed and after she does it 5 more times, they will drag her under and smother her.
Or I would ignore it and hope she outgrows it. Actually, studies show that kids who eat their boogers or play with their poo have better immune systems. Sick, huh?
Aftyn has the same issue. I have found the bigger deal I make out of it, the more she does it. I just pretend I don't see her. She does it much less now so hopefully, Gwen will outgrow it too. It's just one of those things that kids do. Or you can tell her if she keeps doing it she'll get worms in her stomach... That's what my mom told me!
Someday when you're kids are deliberately being disobedient to your face you'll be grateful, oops, I mean this Mom will be grateful, that at least the sweet little girl doesn't want to disappoint Mommy. When they turn 10 it seems they'll do anything just to disappoint Mommy.
Katie used to call her boogers honey because she thought they were so yummy. I wish I could tell you that she's completely broken the habit, but at least she has the sense to not do it in public. A little peer pressure can do that for you.
Tell the mom good luck.
Wow, small world! I also have a friend whose daughter has the same problem. This friend talked to her doctor about it and she sugguested to put a dab of hot sauce on her fingers when she saw her picking her nose. She said it (obviously) wouldn't feel so good once she put her finger in her nose or her mouth and that she'd cure of it really quickly. Previous to talking to the doctor this friend of my tried the 'ignore' trick and it hasn't worked for a year so now this friend is desperate. I'll let you know if my friend says the hot sauce is a success. My friends daugther likes the taste b/c she says it's salty - ewww!
Someone told me that she tells her kids if they eat them it will make their tummies sick. But then, her son had the stomach flu and promised his mom he'd never eat boogers again! Your friend's daughter might just outgrow it. Maybe she's old enough if you explain why it's not acceptable she would get it. Or, explain when she feels tempted, tell her something else that she should do with her hands, like clap, put them in her pocket, dance, get a tissue, etc. Then you could make it a game and celebrate it when you see her doing that action with her hands. I find that just telling my kids "no" is harder for them then telling them to do something different. I hope that makes sense! I would say just keep trying different methods. Good luck!
Charlie loves to pick his nose. We recently told him that when he picks his nose he turns into the "Bug Monster"... which he thought was very silly. But now, he at least says, "Ew Mom, I'm a Bug Monster! I better wash my hands!"
So at least the rest of us aren't being contaminated. Beyond that, who knows if anything will stop them!
Sometimes they really do outgrow it. My eldest has (mostly). It used to be something she did when daydreaming. But now she's moved on.
But the peer pressure thing will totally take care of it in public, I'm sure. And come on, do NONE of us have icky little private habits?
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