There is such a thing as too clean
My mom had the right idea. She had a lot of right ideas, but today I was reminded of one in particular. Mom was not a clean freak - far from it. Our house was clean, but not spotless. Floors were vacuumed and mopped, things were dusted, dishes were done, but I doubt you could eat off the floors, and it didn't sparkle. There was usually some sort of clutter on the end tables, generally consisting of books, newspapers, and magazines she and my stepdad were reading. I vaguely remember a pile of mail - probably bills waiting to be paid - on the counter by the phone; the same place my pile of mail lives. My bedroom, which I shared with my youngest sister, was usually cluttered, but not dirty. My other sister's bedroom, on the other hand, was spotless. Suzy Homemaker. That's why she got her own room. Mom felt it was inhumane to subject her to my slovenliness. My brother's room? A hazardous waste dump. You couldn't even walk in his room most of the time. In fact, he frequently entered and exited his room via his window (California, you know). Mom let our rooms be our rooms. If we wanted to live in a pig sty, so be it.
So, why am I mentioning this? The news this morning was talking about the fact that we have become too clean, especially moms of young kids. They are constantly washing their kids, and using antibacterial soaps on them and their homes. The Daughter is guilty of this behavior. As a result of all this cleanliness, we have weakened immune systems. Our immune systems are strengthened as we are exposed to germs. Sometimes we get sick from the germs, but in doing so, we build up an immunity to the germs, so that the next time we are exposed to them, we don't get sick, or as sick. Letting kids get sick helps build their immune systems. But we've become such a germophobic society, we're actually making ourselves sicker, our immune systems weaker, and the illnesses we're falling prey to are much more devastating as a result of our weakened immune systems. We need a little dirt as kids. We need to get sick now and then. We need to stop being so germophobic. Contrary to what you may think, you're not going to die if you don't wash your hands 100 times a day. In fact, doing so might make you die!
See, Mom was right. A little dirt, a few germs, never hurt anyone.
