There is a bad habit that I have had for years, really for as long as I can remember. I bite my nails and I hate it. It’s disgusting, I don’t like doing it, but I do it out of nervousness. I will notice when I am at work or during a movie when I don’t know what is going to happen and I will turn to biting my nails. Here is the problem though, I have tried to quit multiple times and it will last for a while, but I always fall back on the wagon. But I have finally found a way to quit.
I had recently read an article on BuzzFeed about 11 Slightly Horrific Facts that will Stop You from Biting Your Nails. You would think, being the germaphobe that I am, I would realize how gross biting my nails is and instantly quit by these facts alone. Well, I have seen worse and done worse only to keep doing this disgustingly bad habit. Fortunately though, no matter the images I see of gross bitten nails bleeding and all dried up, I will never forget what I saw that will make me quit forever.
The other day I was sitting on the couch watching Back to the Future II and looked over at my son to see that he was biting his nails. Mind you, he is two years old and I don’t think he has actually bitten his nails, but he puts them in his mouth and acts like he is biting them. I freaked out only to realize that I am the one that he gets it from.
My wife has called me out saying, “He watches you and sees you biting your nails. He wants to be just like you.” Never have I felt worse about myself than when I saw him doing something that I do and I am not proud of doing. I never would have thought that he would have to worry about picking up my bad habits.
I knew that my son would watch things I do and try to do them. He is always watching me get ready and he will impersonate me by brushing his teeth, wanting to wear his bow tie and doing his hair for the day. It’s absolutely adorable, but when you see your child doing something that you do that you are not proud of- you freak out. You wonder where they got that disgusting habit from and wonder where they could have learned that. Of course I am not the one that taught him to bite his nails. I didn’t sit down with him and show him how it’s done, but he learned how to do it from me. He watches me working on my computer or watching Dancing with the Stars, stressing out and biting my nails. He wants to do what I do and so clearly he is going to bite his nails too.
This made me quit instantly, cold turkey. I clip my nails and show him how I cut them and now I even offer to cut his. (Another phobia I’ve had is cutting my children’s nails. Honestly until now I’d only cut his nails three times and he is two years old.) We have been working together at teaching him that biting your nails is not okay. “Why?” he asks, because our fingers are dirty and it hurts our teeth. Nothing is harder as a parent than trying to teach your children, but especially teaching them to break a bad habit that they learned from watching you. No matter what it is (biting your nails, picking your nose, the way you treat others) maybe it’s time to quit. Kids are like sponges soaking up every little thing they see, so don’t let them soak up these bad habits. It’s harder to break a bad habit than to start a good one, so wish me luck.
