Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Inquisitive mind wonders- will this fit in my nose?

At four-and-a-half years old, Georgia is learning so much every day- upper and lower case letters, sounding out short words, basic numbering, how plants get and lose their colors, why we celebrate Thanksgiving, how to dance an "echappe (a-sha-pay)" in ballet class... At school she learns by listening, watching, interacting, doing. Sometimes she hears something and remembers it forever. Sometimes she sees something and forgets it immediately. Some lessons seem more important than others, and some take multiple reviews to be learned...
Last night she revisited a previously explored lesson- Nothing Goes In Our Nose! 
Kids were in bed, Larry was doing schoolwork, I was making Georgia's lunch for the next day, when I heard her crying in her room. I waited to see if it was just a "there's something scary" ploy, but her crying continued. When I went in to check on her, she was sitting up in bed holding her nose.
I asked her if she hurt it?- "yes"; bumped it on the wall?- "no"; scratched it somehow? -"no"....."I put a bead in my nose."
I guess I should have gone right into mommy-mode, trying to comfort and fix the problem, but I was dumbfounded. You did what? "I found a bead in my bed and put it in my nose. It's still in there. It hurts." Are you sure there's a bead in your nose? (C'mon- you're four-and-a-half, my Big Girl!) Let's blow your nose- maybe it's just some boogers... (we blow her nose- yes, there are a few boogers.) See- just boogers. Go back to bed. (She sits still. Then a panicked look in her eye...) "No, mommy, the bead is still in there. it Hurts!"
I hear Larry in the kitchen so I just scoop her up and take her out to him, still shaking my head.
"Georgia says she put a bead in her nose. She found a bead in her bed and put it in her nose. Really."
He obviously is the more responsible parent because he calmly says, "Ok, let's get a flashlight." Oh- right. I guess we should check her nose. And what do we see shining way, WAY up in her little nose- one sparkly bead. "Yep- there's a bead in there."
Georgia still looks panicked, but thankfully my mommy-mode finally kicked in. I grabbed a clean tissue and told her to blow hard, plugging the clean nostril. She's not a great nose-blower all the time, but she really gave it her all and.... pop! We all heard the tiny pop of it finally coming dislodged! I'm telling ya- it was really IN THERE. We were about 30 seconds and one more sniffle from a night-run to the ER. Hopefully this lesson will stick this time- stick like a little bead up your nose!!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

classic and priceless! You and Larry are getting to be pros at this stuff! Love aunt laura

Jen said...

Stick like a little bead up your nose. Ha! That made me laugh. I'm sure that will be a new phrase in your house. :)

The Phelps said...

Kathryn, you are such a great story teller... and I love that picture of GA! Miss y'all! Talk to you soon.