She can walk, talk, sing, dance, print words, read (some) books, heck, she can even beat an egg better than most of the guys I dated in college. But, there is one major age appropriate milestone my 4-year-old has yet to achieve: Blowing her nose.
It’s true. One of the great givens of life is more than just a challenge for my darling daughter. Not only has she not mastered the art of nose blowing, she routinely turns the process into a major ordeal.
A major ordeal… complete with tears that beget more mucus, which begets additional frustration and misery.
Whoever said that one of a parent’s greatest life accomplishments is teaching a child how to blow his nose obviously had a kid with similar issues as mine. For whatever reason my child simply does not grasp the concept of shutting her mouth and blowing her nose into a tissue. Rather, she chooses to remain stuffed up for 90 percent of the time she is battling a cold while the remaining 10 percent is spent wiping her dripping nose on her sleeve, my shirt, her dad’s collar, and the occasional washcloth.
Lest you think that I blow as a nose blowing teacher I’ll have you know that I have spent many a morning (afternoon and evening) tutoring my tot on the proper way to excavate mucus from one’s nostrils. I thought I was on to something when my daughter actually started using Kleenex to wipe her nose. But, that joy was short-lived when I discovered that she was using three pieces of tissue per wipe and refused to flip, fold or finagle the soft paper product into another shape to maximize its usage.
The lesson on holding one nostril shut and blowing fell flat as did my brilliant challenge to have her blow out a birthday candle with her nose. Both resulted in the same sucking in instead of blowing out.
So here we are, at the height of cold and flu season, still struggling to get the mucus moving. I’ve consulted with experts, visited Kleenex’s website to view their tips on nose blowing, and chatted with other parents with kids my daughter’s age, but still no flow.
Any advice?
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