Yesterday we went to the Goshen Fair.
It’s an agricultural fair held every year on Labor Day weekend.
The first year we went as a family was 8 years ago when Number 3 was a couple months old.
I had him all decked out in his overalls.
I made sure to lie him down on a blanket.
Keep him clean,
and neat,
and protected.
That day seems so long ago.
Yesterday I was reminded of that first time we brought him to the fair when I overheard a young couple.
They had a little baby.
And they were freaking out because they dropped the kid’s pacifier on the ground.
I remember those days.
The good old days of germophobia and anxiety.
That young couple.
They’ll learn.
In 8 years,
when their kid is on the merry-g0-round,
and happily,
or unhappily
clutching a steering wheel,
or a saddle,
petting an alpaca,
or a cow,
stepping in a big pile of horse shit,
maybe licking a headrest,
and then transferring all that crap to his brothers and sisters,
that dirt on the pacifier?
Eh…
A little dirt on a pacifier ain’t no big deal.
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!!!
I agree…I think you need exposure to all those germs to build up a strong immune system. Billions of babies have survived on this planet without hand sanitizer, organic blankets, etc.
I agree with the post, but I have to say, #7’s expression is one I see frequently on my two year old. It must be something about the age. I call it her ‘processing’ face, when there’s something new that she’s not quite sure about, she’s processing and that is the very same look. 🙂
dirt and germs help the immune system become stronger. If you keep a kid in a bubble until they go to school they end up being sicker than if they ate dirt when they were 2. I was never one to freak out if the pacifier fell on the ground….half the time I would look at it, make sure there was no actual particles on it and (maybe) wipe it off with my shirt and plunk that bad boy right back in. He’s now going into 2nd grade and has never missed a day due to illness.
I was the type of kid before when going out the house was a little eeky for me, so I prefer to stay inside the house with a book or learn guitars by myself, I like to be clean, so I soap twice, rub twice, shampoo twice in 1 bath, and teen stage came and I faced the huge problem of Skin Asthma, yep! that was what the Dermatologists call it! My skin was so thin and extremely dry, when I open my mouth wide, the side of my mouth would break, my earlobes itch so much that a part of it actually broke-off the side of my face. It was horrible! A lot of food were prohibited from me, to the extent that there are only 3 things I can eat… rice, beef and water.
No yeasts, no citrus fruits, no chocolates, no chicken, no fish, no coffee, no milk.
But that wasn’t the worst part there, imagine how was my life was being a teen and looking horrible?
Then I finished school, went to college, had to transfer to the city! First week, I couldn’t sleep because whenever a vehicle pass by my window, I can feel the dust in my sheets. Got used to it, and within a month, my skin problem was gone like it never happened!
Being too clean made my skin weak, made my immune system weak, a little dirt won’t hurt, it is actually helpful!
🙂