As far back as I can remember I was always told by my parents not to shove anything up my nose.  Of course, as a school aged child, everyone knew the one kid that put some kind of object – blunt or shiny – in their nostrils for the enjoyment of their peers.  Then, in college, there was always the road trip that brought the usual pranks among your friends – for us it was one generous snorer who had a penchant for pencils, pens and straws in his nose without his consent.

Those were certainly the days.  But Avery?  No.  You never should put anything in your nose!

Well, that is where the story begins.  The other night, while lying in misery due to my clogged sinuses, Colleen has this brilliant idea.  She called it the “Neti Pot,” and according to her, it was the solution to life’s greatest questions.

What do I have to do was the inevitable question next in the queue.

“You just lean over the sink and pour warm, salty water in one nostril and it will drain and clear out the other.”

“Huh, what?” was my response.

That’s right.  The kid that was taught to not put things in his nose and who preaches it to his own child was about to shove a miniature watering can in one side of my nose in the hopes that it will come out the other side.

Surely this was a prank.  I mean, can’t I get the same solution by being made to laugh and squirting milk out of my nose?  At least, at that point, nothing will have purposefully entered my nasal cavity and we’d get a good laugh in the process.

Alas, it was no prank.  I gave in to the claims of “wonderous” and “I swear by it,” only to be greeted by water streaming out of my eye and a distinct feeling that I had just drank a glass of ocean water.

Note to self.  Don’t put anything in your nose again.