Nathan has only occasionally shown interest in putting things up his nose, though after today’s antics he might be cured for good!
Nathan loves picking up sticks. Today, on our way back to the car after our playgroup in Hawthorn, he picked up a small gum tree branch that had loads of small gumnuts on it. He got into the car and waved it around, hitting Toby on the head a couple of times, at which point I told him that it would be confiscated if he did that again because it hurts Toby. I broke it down to a much smaller size and let him have the stick back, and he stopped waving and started picking the gumnuts off the it.
I strapped Toby into his seat and then went to strap Nathan in, just in time to see him about to put a gumnut up his nose. I told him not to put it up there. I wanted to take the stick away from him, but Nathan cried and I took the route of least resistance and let him keep it.
About half way home, and just as I entered the freeway, Nathan started screaming and crying. I looked in my rear vision mirror and saw him slapping his nose and sticking his fingers up there as he screamed. I asked him if he had put a gumnut up there, and he said he had….though his crying. I told him not to stick his fingers up there and to try to blow his nose to get it out. He snorted and snuffed, cried and cried. I told him there was nowhere to stop on the freeway and we were nearly home, so I would drive as fast as I could to get him to a doctor. There seem to be a heap of medical centers in our area.
The crying stopped and Nathan calmed down just before we reached the medical centre. I couldn’t get a clear answer from him as to whether it was still there or not, so I took him to the doctor anyway. It was a very subdued Nathan who presented at the medical centre where it was pronounced that the gumnut was no longer there. I asked him if he would put anything up his nose again, and I got an emphatic “no!”.
