Prizes from the Nose



 My most favorite baby product is the bulb syringe, or as we call it, the Boogie Sucker. I absolutely love it! I have tons of them, all over the house.  I get the utmost satisfaction from sucking a huge booger out of a nose. Perhaps this makes me weird, and if I wasn't a parent, I'd be totally grossed out by it. But the bigger the booger, the more satisfaction I get. One morning, 5 was a little congested, and I could hear that his nose seemed stuffy. When I sucked the first nostril, nothing happened. Disappointment. Then I went into the other nostril, and I saw a little snot move. One more good suck, and it came out, huge and gross. When I squeezed it into the trash can, it actually shot out of the syringe. It was that big. The reason I get so much pleasure out of using this thing is because I think the kids have to feel better minus that huge booger in their noses. 5 has a tiny little newborn nose, and getting that huge booger out definitely helped him breathe better.
A few days later, when I laid Donkey on the changing table, I saw that his entire nostril was covered in booger. Using my trusty Boogie Sucker, I removed that booger, which was so big it appeared to be coming out of his brain. That was the highlight of my day. Yes, I realize how pathetic that sounds!

Now, let me be clear on a few points. Just because I love sucking boogies out of my kids' noses does not mean I will boogie suck any one's nose. I'm  not going up to random kids on the street trying to suck their boogers.

Also, just because I love sucking boogies out of my kids' noses does not mean that my kids love having the boogies sucked out of their noses. I usually have to hold them down to do this. And I don't get to use the Boogie Sucker on the big kids, just the little guys. Once you can blow your own nose, there is no more need for the Boogie Sucker.

And finally, just because I love sucking boogies out of my kids' noses does not mean I love boogies. I enjoy getting them out of the noses to help the kids breathe better. I'm not a fan of finding a boogers in random places around the house. However, with five kids, I have found boogies all over. I have tissue boxes in every room, but still they don't always use a tissue. One day I was sitting at the computer getting ready to type something when I noticed a booger on the keyboard. I knew it was from Pirate, who told me that he wiped it there because he didn't want to take a break from the game he was playing on the computer earlier that day. (But he could break long enough to pick this thing out of his nose.) At least once a day, Trouble will come to me with his index finger pointed up in the air and say, "Mommy I have a big green booder. You take it?". And I take it (with a tissue) because I know that otherwise, I will find it later in some obscure place. I probably catch my boys digging in their noses 50 100 times a day. Even Donkey sticks his finger in his nose, all because he did it by accident once and the other kids laughed. Now he thinks it's hilarious to stick his finger in his nose. I'm sure he'll be even more thrilled the first time he gets a prize out of it!