To be completely honest, I have never worried much about
exposing children to germs. Children
face so few threats from infection nowadays that it is beneficial for their
immune systems to expose them to as many microbes as possible. When parents ask about the necessity of hand
sanitizer, my advice is that stomach acid takes care of almost everything a
child may put in their mouth. Let them
eat something when it falls on the ground.
Washing their hands before they eat sounds like a good idea conceptually
but may not makes a significant difference in their health because they are
always sucking on their fingers anyway.
We have one glass in the upstairs bathroom my
children drink from after brushing their teeth, which makes this story about
germs and the need for stomach acid all the more fitting. My second summer as a
mom to four was physically exhausting; my children were 5, 4, 2 and fourteen
months old. We spent the day outside
playing in the sun because that seemed like the best way to exhaust my young ones
so they slept well when it is overwhelmingly hot.
The evening routine went something like this: 4:30pm dinner, then clean up the kitchen, do
dishes, and put away leftovers. Baths
were started by 5:30 or 6 pm and took about an hour from start to finish,
including getting into pajamas, giving them fluoride, combing their hair, and
brushing their teeth. Barring any notable
injuries or unforeseen events, we would then read bedtime stories, snuggle, and
talk about our day as I tucked each one into bed. The goal was to finish by 8pm, so I could read
a few minutes by myself and go to sleep.
By this particular hot August evening, I was tired
and especially thirsty. Do you remember
how thirsty you were when you were nursing your infant? After baths, we were sitting on my bed
getting ready to read stories. I was
nursing the baby and trying not to sweat too much in our house with no air
conditioning. My two year old daughter
came in with a plastic glass full of cold water. I took a sip and it was really good. We finished the glass together and she went to
get a refill.
I thought how great it was she was being so
“helpful.” She came back a second time
with another full cup and all three children and I drank out of it. When she returned for the third time, I
realized I had not heard the faucet running in between trips and wondered from
where she was getting the water. This is
one of those moments when you ask a question, knowing the answer right at that very
instant.
“From the toilet,” she said. The thoughts that went through my head at
that moment cannot be repeated on the internet but suffice it to say I was
speechless. My kids all started
laughing as they did not exactly understand why drinking water from the toilet
is not a good idea. If I had not been so
tired, I might have panicked at the thought of what could happen to children
who drink water from the toilet.
However, the reality of having four children in four
years is you are so exhausted just getting through that day alone; nothing upsets
you as long as no one is profusely bleeding.
Instead, you hope for the best and put them to bed anyway. We all ended up fine and no one became ill, which
lends some credibility to my theory about the value of stomach acid. Nevertheless,
beware if your 2 year old brings you a cool glass of water on a hot day. You might want to double check the water
source before just blithely taking a sip.
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