Children with handkerchiefs: Good idea or anachronism?

[morningpaper]

My nearly-4 year old has taken to carrying a handkerchief to nursery in her pocket, because she doesn't like asking for tissues all the time.

I remember my mother never let me leave the house without checking that I had a handkerchief!

They seem rather outdated now though. What do your children do for nose-blowing?!

can't you give her a little pack of tissues. asda sell them 38p for 6 packs

I've never been keen on those packets of tissues - just seems like a waste of paper/plastic/money.

Practically, she could only fit one in her pocket. And I think that the staff would probably ask her to throw it away. Then she would be in the same situation of having no where to blow her nose ....

What DO your children do, sniff all day? Or drip?

Ds drips, and then when he spots a tissue advancing towards him, he wipes it himself, with the back of his hand...grrrreat!
He is only one mind you!

ds' school insist they have one in their pockets but personally find it a bit unhygenic. Would prefer a supply of tissues to be handy.

My almost 3 year old uses the back of his hand, his sleeve - pretty much anything EXCEPT a tissue. Might try him on a handkerchief though, as his grandpa uses one, and he idolises his grandpa (and his grandad of course, just in case anyone I know in RL reads this !!)

Do your HUSBANDS carry hankies?

dh carries a handkerchief [sigh]
and leaves them in little crusty piles round the house till the Hankie Fairy does a pre-laundry sweep
thankfully he goes onto the expensive ultrabalm tissues when he has a cold
Actually I find it endearingly old-fashioned (apart from the crusty laundry bit obviously)

I have considered starting to carry a handkerchief for, as my father does, cleaning my glasses. There's something a bit unsophisticated about wiping them on the front of your t-shirt...

Nope. Dh carries hideous piles of what used to be tissues in his pockets... When he tries to take a tissue out a charming mini-snowstorm effect ensues.

I give DD a packet of tissues for school that she keeps in her bookbag.

DP used to use handkerchiefs but I refused to wash them as they can't go in washing machine (TMI ALERT -as everything else gets covered in snot/bogies ) and there is no way I am boiling them up on the hob like my Gran used to do!

I'm not sure that the snowstorm effect is better than a hanky.

My DH takes a freshly laundered immaculate hanky out of his drawer every morning. (He does all of the laundry, I hasten to add.)

I have always been rather swept off my feet when, at times of bursting into tears in public, a gentlemen has offered me his crisp white hanky. I always want to swoon at his feet.

Always beware the crusty hanky, MrsBadger. Especially the one under his side of the bed.

I thought this would be a wildly popular topic.

Are handkerchiefs very dull?

DD1's class apparently has boxes of tissues on offer, I discovered after giving her little packets.

My mum (yes, that one) used to send me off when I had streaming colds with just one or at the most two hankies, and they'd be saturated within 15 minutes and I'd stream, wetly, for the rest of the day (I get vile colds, always have). So I am a bit pro tissues even though I know they are terribly right-off.

lol at this thread. But yes, like MotherInferior, hankies do bring back horrible memories of sodden balls of cotton stuffed into pockets hoping they would dry out sufficently so you could wipe that streaming nose yet again. At least we didn't have to hide them up our navy knickers.

Hurrah for tissues I say. But what can we buy Dad for Christmas these days?