Different view of normal

When I drive the kids to school in the morning, I always say a little prayer with them that usually goes something like this:

"Dear Jesus, thank you for this beautiful day. Please help us to remember to do our best work, and to be good listeners. Please help us to have good attitudes and make good choices. Bring us home safely tonight. Amen."

Lately, for the benefit of my son, I've had to add the following line:

"Please help me remember not to sniff my classmates' hair."

Within the last couple of weeks, he has discovered the smell of shampoo and the texture of hair. Not a huge deal, if he were three years old...but he is 12. He'll turn 13 this spring.

I had a meeting with a few of his teachers a couple of weeks ago, and was informed at that time about this new fascination. Of course I asked him about it. The conversation went like this:

me: Your teachers have told me you are sniffing ______'s hair. Why is that?
he: I like the way his hair smells. I like his shampoo.
me: Have you thought about asking him what kind of shampoo he uses? I would be glad to buy the shampoo for you to use.
he: Don't be silly, mom. I can't sniff my own hair! It isn't long enough!

Apparently I'm the silly one in this scenario. He considers it normal to huff shampoo. Sigh.

At least he isn't licking people anymore.