Pampering the Boys

I told the boys they were going to have a treat. "It's called a manicure." They thought it was something to eat! LOL I had both of them sitting at the kitchen table with a towel under their hands. First came the liquid cuticle remover. Then they each soaked their hands in a warm water solution of honey and lemon juice for 5 minutes. After drying their nails, I pushed back cuticles, did some very minor shaping and gave them a clear gloss topcoat. They were so proud of their shiny nails! ;D

I did have an ulterior motive. Pooh's nails are terrible. He's been a nail biter for a couple of years now. It's gotten to where he bites them down to the almost bleeding stage. He picks at the skin around all his nails, along the sides and the top part which should be under a nail. He's never messed with the cuticles and they looked like they were starting to take over what nail he does have. I've read before about providing manicures to nail biters in the hopes that it will motivate them to take care of their nails.

Usually Pooh bites and picks when we are at our Sunday meetings. However, today all he did was pick out dirt from under his nails. When I looked at him he said "I'm just getting the dirt out." He never bit or picked at them. Has it worked??? Only time will tell. I hope to give him a little manicure every week or two if it motivates him to leave his poor nails alone. Maybe I'll actually get to clip them! I haven't been able to do that in years.

These pictures were taken a couple of days later, but at least you can see the present state of their nails after the manicure. Yup, there's dirt again. The one with some length on the nail is Tigger. The ones down to the quick are Pooh's.