Pesky pea

Earlier this week, Jason was busy in the kitchen while Ellie was having her lunch. Soon, however, he was summoned with the following call: "Daddy, can you get the pea out of my nose?"

Jason went into the dining room, thinking that Ellie was just snotty and needed to blow her nose. He got a tissue and offered it to her, but she gave him a look as if he was crazy. So he held the tissue up to her nose and said, "Blow!"

Ellie blew, and out popped a pea!

I'm happy to report that there was only one pea, and it probably hadn't been there for long, since she was having peas with her lunch. When I got home that evening, I asked Ellie, "What's this I hear about a pea in your nose?" She told me very cheerfully that she'd put it there. I decided to ask her "why," not because three-year-olds have logical reasons for things, but because I was curious to hear what she'd say. Ellie answered promptly, "Because I liked it!" I inquired if she still liked it after it was in her nose, and she said, "Oh, no!"

So we had two lessons learned on this day. Ellie learned that it's not good to put things in your nose. And Daddy learned that if your three-year-old has a bowl of peas in front of her and says she has a pea in her nose, she really means it!