She was just trying to get me to stop the habit, not so easy though. She tried spraying my hands black with spray paint one day too (I'm playing out front, about 13 when she comes out with her hand behind her back and tells me to put mine out; uh, NO! I'm not stupid :-) and in the tussle she got black spray paint on one of my favorite blouses and I don't think I ever forgave her for that. About that time she also tried having me wear white gloves out to play in; I was popular with the neighborhood kids, not.

My girlfriend from when we were 5, 6, and 7, when I was in my 20's I heard her mother had quit biting her finger nails and that stuck with me; there was an adult quitting as an adult, I figured maybe one day I could/would too. It was weird to me that it turned out to be an effect of therapy and I just went longer and longer between biting my nails such that I usually have most of them now for awhile before one snags or gets weak or whatever and "comes off" and then the others start going a bit faster