Bite it.

When I was a kid I used to bite my fingernails. I made a conscious decision to stop when I was around eleven years old. My aunt Laney always had pretty long nails and always, always had them painted. I wanted fingernails like Laney. With the force of sheer willpower I made myself stop biting my nails. I distinctly remember how proud I was when I accomplished that feat. I could actually see white at the tips of my nails.

Adrienne could grow her nails 3 feet long without a second thought about how long they were getting. No nail biting, just chips and breaks from digging in the dirt like a normal 7 year old.

Genevieve and Charlotte both bite their nails. It's a bad habit, one which I've fought and conquered, and have always hoped they'd do the same on their own. But, with the even of Charlotte's finger infection this past weekend I decided to be a little more proactive about it.

I don't know if it's going to work. You hear success stories and others who say that it never stopped them. But I went ahead and spent the five bucks on this:



Today as I was applying the second coat (of a twice per week regimen) my curiosity got the better of me. I carefully slid some across my left index finger and allowed it to dry while I finished up the girls hands.

Bolstering myself for what I knew must be disgusting (it would have to be gross to actually work) I gingerly licked the tip of my fingernail. Holy. Shit. That was the most disgusting bitter thing I have ever tasted. I'd rather chew aspirin.

"The easy way to stop nail biting." If I hadn't already quit 20 years ago I'd sure as heck quit now. Blech.