Parrish came over the other day with a box of Harry Potter Jelly Beans that he was generously sharing with Lex and Eve. They were intrigued by the different flavors. Eve picked a jelly bean out and the conversation went as such:

Parrish: “That’s a booger one!”
Eve, pauses, shrugs: “I eat my own boogers.” Pop, into the mouth goes the jelly bean.
Parrish: “Yeah, I eat my boogers too.”
Lex: “Me too.”

All said quite calmly and factually, then the conversation moved on to other flavors. Yuck!

According to That’s Disgusting: Unraveling the Mysteries of Repulsion, a book I heard about on NPR last year, “disgusting” is a learned emotion. There is an inherent level of disgust that humans are born with, necessary for self preservation in the caveman days, but there is also a learned level of disgust that is different in different cultures. Apparently children generally first hear about “disgusting” during potty training and then slowly, slloowwwly, learn what is considered culturally acceptable and what isn’t. I remind myself of this book often, even though I’ve never even read it! What we, as grownups, think is disgusting apparently isn’t considered disgusting about the 5-7yr old crowd.