There’s an old saying that goes something like this: If you tell children, “Don’t put peas in your ears, they’ll put peas in their ears.” Supposedly putting the idea in their heads makes them want to do it.
We never had a problem with our first three kids putting things in their ears or their noses. Our fourth child, Suzee, was another story.
When she was two, I packed raisins in her lunch all the time. Below is a note I received from her preschool teacher one day.
It reads: “Suzee put raisins up her nose today. I got all I could see and checked her through the day. I haven’t seen anymore. But please check her at home to make sure.” Signed by Ms. Anna
George and I thought it was funny, but we didn’t think she’d do it again. “Didn’t think” being the key words here. She put raisins up her nose two more times at preschool.
The third time, Ms. Gayle, the preschool director said, “Mrs. Kelley, could you please stop packing raisins in Suzee’s lunch? They keep sending her to me and it’s hard to get them out.”
Miss Gayle was very sweet about it, so of course I agreed to put an end to the raisins.
Not too long after that, while at home Suzee stuck a rubber eraser that had broken off the end of a pencil up her nostril. I tried pushing on it gently to work it out, but it didn’t help.
What to do? What to do? I wasn’t comfortable sticking tweezers up her nose.
I grabbed my purse and keys. “Looks like we need to see the doctor.”
She started wailing. “No, no, I don’t want to go to the doctor!” She cried so hard, her nose ran. Lo and behold, the eraser slid right out.
That was a lucky break. We got off easy that time. It’s funny after the fact. I’ve had plenty of laughs about this through the years and even wrote a speech for Toastmasters about it, so how cool is that?
What are your thoughts? Were you a kid who put things in your ears or nose, or do you know any kids who did? Are you always ready for something unexpected to occur? Are you familiar with Toastmasters?
I’d love to hear from you.
If you’d like to receive future posts, please add your email address in the “Subscribe” window in the sidebar, just below the welcome video.
Thanks for stopping by!
When she was about three, my oldest managed to stuff a cotton ball up her nose – in such a way that no one – not me, my parents, or my siblings – could see. Without going into too many disgusting details, it was there a while. I took her to the doctor thinking sinus infection but wound up mortified instead. I felt like a bad mom but the doctor assured me things like that happen more often then you’d think. It was, however, the first time he’d seen a cotton ball. 😀
Oh my gosh, Kristy, her poor little nose! And what a shock when the doctor discovered a cotton ball! Oh man! Thanks for sharing this story. I’ll use it in a future blog post, for sure. Thanks so much for stopping by!
I didn’t put anything where it wasn’t supposed to be when it came to my body. Unless you count the time I drank Japanese super hot sauce by accident.
Japanese super hot sauce, yikes! How old were you? Hopefully, not too young. One time at a family get-together, there was a sushi platter and near it on another plate was some of that green wasabi, My brother thought it was guacamole and dipped a chip into it. Boy, was he surprised!
Thanks for stopping in, Alex!
I never did this, and neither did my daughter, thank heavens, but my brother put a Tic-tac up his nose once, and our mom freaked until it came out! One of my daughter’s friends told us she did the raisin thing – “Mommy, where’d my raisin go? Up my nose!”
A Tic-tac! Oh man! I know exactly how your mom felt. A Tic-tac is worse than a raisin because it’s hard. And your daughter’s friend, that’s so funny. Just like a kid to say something like that. Thanks for the giggles, Jennette!
Ha ha! Love these stories 😀
I’m so glad you got a good chuckle, Yvette. Thanks for stopping by!