I let my son eat dirt

May 17, 2012 at 8:30 am | Posted in Daily Life | 11 Comments
Tags: chicken pox, Dirt, eating food from the floor, germs, kids and germs, kids illnesses, kissing slugs

Our three-year old son is a little adventurer – he has to know to the tiniest detail about the who, why, when, what and how – and that usually involves getting a bit grubby in the process.

He usually has his signature line of black grot under his fingernails and bath time involves a lot of fussing over face wiping.  He’s a typical boy – just how you want it.

But some parents may draw the line in a cleaner spot than I tend to.  Because he drops lollies on the floor and I let him eat them – conditions permitting of course, if it was directly into a cow pat we’d give him another lolly – probably.  But the five second rule definitely applies on the pavement.

If our son sees a school friend in the supermarket, a full on display of affection follows – a swooping hug followed by multiple kisses – on the lips – regardless of whether they’ve just had swine flu, a sickness bug or chicken pox.  He even got a telling off at school for over-zealous hugging and kissing of classmates – I think he may have wrestled one unsuspecting child to the floor. Oh well.

He also likes to lick things. The trolley handlebar goes without say and this habit extends to the car door, tables in cafes, lampposts and a collection of other random and probably germ laden things.  Soft play centres are a haven – the balls in the ball pit being a particular favourite.  Never mind.

At Grandma and Grandad’s house he tries to catch the fish from the pond with his hands – sometimes stopping to inspect his fingers, drawing them closer to his mouth and having a little taste – just to see what it might be like.  He also has a tendency to pick up slugs and snails and other garden pests to inspect, prod and sometimes kiss as well.  Not quite with the same gusto as his love for his school friends.

But actually I think I might let him carry on with his grubby ways because I can count on one hand the number of times he’s got sick – one dose of swine flu and three sickness bugs.  Oh and maybe an ear infection and a chesty cough.

However, no-one can avoid chicken pox for ever – and that’s what we’re contending with today.  Pass the calamine…

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