Why My Kid Picks His Nose (...and I don't really mind)

I have a toddler. They tend to want to stick their fingers in everything... and I mean everything. That tends to include their nostrils, ears and mouths. Most of the time I will calmly encourage that Cash keeps his mitts off, except in one area, his nose!

"It's okay, Son! Go ahead and pick that nose!
Even Mr.Obama does it!"

I'm not going to lie, people! I picked my nose (and ate it) when I was a kid. If you didn't then you're weird. There, I said it, weirdo!

I picked my nose and ate it and so will my kid, but do you know why? No not because we're gross or mentally challenged, but because it's our PRIMAL instinct to do so. I mean, WHY would anybody want to pick their nose and stick a booger in their mouth? What makes a kid even do that in the first place? Oh yeah, biology!

You see, friends, as gross as it sounds to us all-knowing, all-seeing (ha!) Mommy's, the truth is that there is a science behind jamming your fingers in your face. Turns out that all of those airborne bacteria's that get trapped by our nostrils are actually sort of like mini-flu shots! They're not enough to get us sick, but just enough to let our bodies get a taste for the virus and start acting to fight it off!

What a vaccination does is actually put a (dead) virus into your body so that your immune system can build up antibodies to fight against it. By using all of that hand sanitizer and telling your kid to keep his fingers out of his mouth you're actually counter-acting the totally safe biology that's happening.

I'm not going to get on a soapbox and tell you all about the harms of vaccinations or hand sanitizer, that's for you to research for yourself (and to be completely honest, outside of the flu shot and chicken pox vaccine my kids are still given their shots!) -- What I am going to tell you is to let your little gold diggers go about their business. The cold hard facts tell us that it's all good in the booger neighbourhood!

You can even pick your nose too! I give you permission! (In private, away from prying eyes, of course!)

If the idea of nose-picking and boogers turns your stomach, well, get a grip! Basic human nature at it's best, people! Don't go tossing your tissues, but you can leave that battle at the playground, okay?


But just remember... You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, just don't pick your friend's nose!