On Nose Picking and What I Really Wish for My Sons

I have a confession…

It’s perfectly OK with me that my child picks his nose. I just have two requests – a) that he doesn’t eat it and b) that he doesn’t do it in public.

Point “a” is about him – because that’s just gross and I feel like eating your own boogers could make you sick somehow. I am sure there is some sort of a medical explanation for how this could happen, and I don’t pretend to know it, but I have an inkling that it could so I would rather him not eat whatever treasures he finds up there. Point “b” is all about me – let’s just be real. I don’t want my kid to be known as the kid who picks his nose because the general consensus on that according to most humans age 4 and over is that digging for gold is disgusting. I don’t want him to be the kid that is thought of as weird or odd or gross BUT also, I don’t want to be thought of as the mom whose kid picks his nose! I feel like that would put me in the “she’s a bad mom” category – even in preschool. Yet, I know the feeling of clearly being aware that there is something up there that needs to come out. We’ve tried the teaching him to blow his nose approach, but at this point the blowing just comes out of his mouth and there is not movement or air coming from his little nose at all. So, when I see him in the backseat – up to the elbow trying to get whatever is bugging him – I refuse to fuss at him. All of this leads me to think about the things he does or will do that are all a part of his personality that I might squander because I am worried about how it will negatively affect him or how I will be judged as a mother. And that is the sad, honest truth of it.

So, instead, I am doing some soul searching about the things I DO want for him because those are things I want to focus on, encourage, and tell him to dive in head first for in life.

• I pray he seeks after faith and lands far from religion, but right on relationship.
• I want him to live life with his hands wide open, not clenching his fists closed tight.
• I hope he goes after the things he wants with passion, drive, and all the energy he has.
• I want him to have the chance to explore the world – whatever that looks like to him.
• I hope he misses the point A LOT – the good stuff is in the details, not the one big flashing light at the end of the tunnel.
• With everything in me, I hope music moves him, inspires him to get where he wants to go, and reminds him of where he has been.
• I hope he can close his eyes and actually smell and taste each season: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall.
• I want his kids to adore him (and me for that matter).
• I pray he finds his brother to be his closest confidant and that they each can look back and remember a joyful childhood. I have been given this gift with my baby sister and I will forever cherish her and our relationship.
• I hope in books he finds imagination and in the world he finds beauty.
• I also pray, hope, and wish that when he is grown, he finds his parents to be a safe place to land, a strong support system, and he finds in us unconditional love.

I have a feeling that this will be an ongoing list for the rest of his life, but I am going to start here. And since we have two boys, I will wait until my youngest starts picking his nose  – then I’ll start my list for him!

 Moms, what silly things drive you bonkers about your kiddos? What important things do you really want to focus on teaching them in life?

{Photo courtesty of Creative Commons}