Awhile back, Emily wrote this post about how Kate’s “comfort item” isn’t really an item per se – it’s her belly button. We have a similar issue with Joshua and his ears. He plays with them when he is tired or nervous, and has done so since he was about two. Now that he’s a big boy, however, he has discovered that he can really play with his ears. He can, in fact, make them do things that they are not supposed to do. Like this, for instance:
He folds his ear inside of itself and then pops it out by smiling really big.
It is too hard for me not to crack up at, and he LOVES making me laugh!
So he runs up to me with his ear like that about 1,000 times a day.
It is HYSTERICAL! But probably not good for his ear…
This is bad, right? What should I do?
I don’t think that this is bad. The ear is very flexible, and because it is made of cartilage and not bone I don’t see any harm. Besides, I would crack up laughing too if my little boys could perform this “trick”. Your son is so cute.
It cracks me up. It looks like it hurts though…
Tooooo funny… but ummmmm surely he is not breaking down cartlidge(sp?) right …. you would probably see purplish coloring and swelling wouldn’t you think… it looks painful though….I think some people just do not have alot of harder cartlidge(sp?)in their ears…
The tucking in trick is NOTHING compared to the twisting on them he does when he is nervous. THAT looks painful, but I think his flexible 4 year old ears can take it until he outgrows it. I LOVE YOU JENNY.
Please note above, my husband loves me! 🙂 I am a lucky girl!
I don’t think there is anything wrong with it. And maybe you should encourage it. Maybe he can win “America’s Got Talent” or at least become a circus freak.
My brother used to be able to do that when he was younger. We even entered a video of it into America’s Funniest Videos. Didn’t win anything though. Speaking about my brother it doesn’t seem to do any damage. I guess through the years the cartilage got harder, because he can’t do it anymore (he’s 17).
LOL, i did the exact same thing when i was a kid. (add a bad habbit to it, sucking my thumb..) The ear turned out fine, the teeth required braces..lol. Your son is too cute!
LOL! That is too funny!Hey if id doesn’t hurt him let him do it!
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Okay, I did the SAME THING as a young child (my ears were my comfort item also) and can still do that with my ear (it doesn’t impress adults quite as much…) Nothing bad ever happened, although it was a really hard habit to break – I’m about to be 29 and still find myself rubbing my ears if I’m thinking hard or really tired (which is always with a 4-year-old, two 2-year-olds and a pregnancy…)
That is so funny that Kate’s comfort thing is her belly button because my Kate’s comfort thing is her belly button! Here I thought she was the only person in the whole world who has this obsession!
That is hilarious. It will firm up more as he gets older and he won’t be able to do that anymore. He can enjoy it while he can.
I can do that too. When I was younger I also played with my ears allot, now I’m 15 and I can still do it and nothing has happened so its ptoblably not bad.
I’ve been doing this for my entire life! Its strangely calming, and according to my family I’ve been doing it since I was around 3 months old. My cartilidge is very soft and flexible, and everyone thinks its the coolest thing ever. It’s awesome your son does this, I didn’t know anyone else did this!