Big Green Monster

I need some serious booger help, ladies. I know it's perfectly common for kids to pick their noses and eat it. But I really thought that by age 5, we'd see a sharp tapering off of this habit, at least in public. Not so much. N picks her nose all.the.time. And when she has a cold, she stubbornly refuses to give a good strong blow into a tissue, opting instead for little sniffs that allow her to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the boogers out as long as they can go, over and over.

We've warned her about the social stigma associated with nose picking (since the plain and simple "it's disgusting" doesn't seem to be making any headway), and she just giggles. Sometimes, she showcases her rich vocabulary in describing the wonderful taste of her boogers, just to drive us crazy ("But they're delectable, Mom!).

The only strategy that has had minimal success in getting her to quit is to have her go wash her hands each and every time that we catch her in the act. I like this consequence because it's logical, and it forces her to stop mid-activity and think about what she's doing. Unfortunately, this consequence sucks if we're not at home. If we're on our way to the bus stop, there's no time to turn around and go home to wash. If we're in line at a store, she knows perfectly well that I won't get out of line to take her to the bathroom. And sometimes there's just not a bathroom nearby. I don't feel like a squirt of Purell would be the same, because she likes it too much.

I know that this is one of the few things in life that she has total control over, and that it's a demonstration of power on her part. But I'm worried that soon she'll be labeled a nose-picker and kids will be cruel to her because of it. Any ideas? I'd be ever so grateful!