I missed this in the fine print

So if you're easily queasy, you might want to skip this post.

If you're still reading ... you were warned.

You know how they say, "You can pick your nose and you can pick your friends but you can't pick your friend's nose." ?  Well ... apparently that doesn't apply to children.

How did I learn this valuable lesson?

Well it all started when we were still in China adopting Zoe (24 months at the time), she asked me to do a couple of tasks for her.  We'd had her only 3 days by this point.  She spoke no words but mimed what she needed just the same.  One was that some meat was stuck between some of her teeth.  I was able to get that out and at the same time get my first look in her mouth.  Let's just say, that quick glance made me realize I was going to make her dentist rich.

The other task was to remove the large boogers in both nostrils that were clearly blocking her from breathing from her nose.  Cleft affected kids often have food come out their nose and hers was getting stuck in there.  She also had horrible ear infections which caused her to have extra nose drainage.

So I did what any good mom would do ... I went diggin'.  Never had to do that with the other 4 kids.  But I have had to do this basically daily for Zoe for the past 3 years.  We've tried other things.  She doesn't have enough pressure to blow them out.  And if she tries to retrieve them, she just manages to shove them further.  I know eventually this will end as she will be able to do this grooming task herself.

Honestly, I stopped giving it another thought.

Now with Manny ... he is often congested.  He gets horrible head colds.  He also can't blow his nose.  And of course his arms don't work to be able to get the boogers himself.  So I also clean his nose on a daily basis.

Still ... not so bothered.

But tonight.  This was over the edge.  Luke (7) came to me saying his nose was bleeding.  Sure enough, he has the worst allergies!  He is allergic to everything according to the test the allergist gave him.  And right now, he's miserable.  This bothered him enough that he went digging and made his nostril bleed.

He came to me asking for relief.  Again, I went diggin'.

And it hit me ... how did it come to this?  Where was THIS on the documents I signed?  How did I miss this in my job description?  How come I don't get noticed for this on my performance reviews?  And where is my raise?

Note to self:  Read the fine print better!

As I was scrubbing my hands from this task, Luke came back in the room and squeezed me with the biggest hug he's ever given me.  He was lighter than air.  Relieved.  He said, "Thanks Mom, you're the best."

So I guess I got my performance review and my raise afterall.