It happens to me 95% of the time. I take Banana to, oh, let’s say a friend’s house. Inevitably, the friend gives the sign that they might like to hold Banana. I offer up our pudgy, little baby. But no, they are backing away. What? Oh, they’ve gone to wash their hands first.
I have also had people cancel plans with us because they weren’t feeling great. Or, people whip out the hand sanitizer from their purse as we approach. Worst yet, I have had people shake their heads at me in disbelief because I don’t have anti-bacterial wipes in my kitchen.
My response? Bring on the germs.
For starters, I breastfeed. This means that any antibodies my body has generated are absorbed by Banana (babies younger than six months have something called an ‘open gut’ which allows proteins, such as white blood cells, to be absorbed directly into the blood stream). So, if I have the immunological defense, then Banana has the defense too.
Also, believe or not, I don’t mind if my children get sick. This might be simple Biology 101, but we often forget that exposure to germs strengthens the immune system. And experiencing the garden-variety flu or cold will help the body build a better defensive system.
In 1989, a researcher named D.P. Strachen put forth the “hygiene hypothesis” in the British Medicine Journal. His hypothesis suggested that the more hygienic our environments, the less our bodies will have a chance to build antibodies. He suggests that this might account for increases in allergies and asthma.
Which is why our family fully endorses the five-second-rule. You know, the idea that if you drop food on the floor, you have five seconds to recover it and put it back on your plate before it is considered garbage. This ‘rule’ was tested in an episode of Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel as well as by researchers at the University of Illinois (Clarke, 2003). I would love to share that the tests reveal that the food is barely contaminated if picked up in under five seconds, but that is not the case. As soon as food hits the floor, it attracts bacteria. These results, however, still do not deter me picking up a perfectly good piece of toast (that has landed the right way up) and putting it back on The Bear’s plate.
I firmly believe that this excessive fear of germs has been generated by a ‘no-sickness-allowed’ culture. Much of the media, medical communications, and parental norms tell us that sickness should be avoided at all costs. Marketers play on our fears of extreme illness, especially when it comes to our children. Parents recite the ‘better safe then sorry’ mantra and purchase germ-busting products. There are the hand sanitizers, the sprays to use on kid’s toys, the covers for the grocery store cart, etc, etc, etc.
And if it is not extreme illness that parents are avoiding, then the ‘no-sickness-allowed’ culture encourages parents to view sickness as an inconvenience. Most information about keeping children healthy will include arguments that state concern over absenteeism from school or how children’s sickness will inevitably keep parents from going to work. Think of the Children Tylenol advertisements – the message is give your sick kids Tylenol so you can get back to your day – “get back to normal, whatever your normal is.”
But it’s okay to be sick! A couple of days off to recover from an illness should be encouraged, not avoided through self-medication!
Finally, consider the message the ‘no-sickness-allowed’ culture sends to the world of kids. When parents are always fearful of their children getting ill, they are essentially telling their children that they are vulnerable and weak. They are telling their children that the world is a scary place full of bacteria or allergens that they need to be protected from at all costs. They are also telling their kids that parents know best when it comes to protection from germs. Such messaging doesn’t exactly empower children to venture forth to explore the world as strong individuals independent of their parent’s guidance.
I must add that there is a certain amount of commonsense in basic hygiene principles – the tried-and-true hand-washing with soap and water; baths; brushing of teeth. But when commonsense hygiene is co-opted by fear, all we have left is a self-fulfilling prophecy of weak, dependent, passive children shuddering at the thought of going outside to play.