No more viruses, please!

Brace yourselves, folks, thar be a rant brewing!

Katie caught another cold, probably from Gymboree. I can't say for sure, but she doesn't have that many opportunities to catch colds outside of her weekly class. There were maybe 10 days of "healthy" between this cold and the last one, and since I caught both of the colds and Anthony caught one, it feels like our entire family has been sick for the past 6 weeks. No Good.

But I've already subjected you to a rant about Gymboree, so this one will have to be different. This time, I'm fed up with people telling me that it's a good thing to expose Katie to germs, that it will "exercise her immune system." This, folks, is pure and utter crap. Sure, I do believe that it's important for kids to not be raised in a plastic bubble. I believe that America's obsession with antibacterial cleansers is a really bad thing. I believe that over-sterilizing our houses might be responsible for the recent rise in asthma and allergies. (Whew, it's nice to know my lack of cleaning prowess has a silver lining!)

So yes, I'm all for exposing Katie to common household dirt. I let her play in the mud, no problem. I don't freak out if I notice she's drinking the water that's been outside in her play sink since yesterday. Eww, but go ahead, sweetheart. If you don't think it's "wucky" then I don't either. Hopefully she'll get exposed to whatever microorganisms the "Hygiene Hypothesis" says we actually need.

Unfortunately, people have started confusing the common rhinovirus with these other microorganisms. People, please stop. There is NO BENEFIT to Katie catching a series of cold viruses. She can't build up immunity to the common cold, because it mutates. That's why there's no cure for the common cold. Sure, she's now immune to the colds she's already had, but those viruses have long since mutated into other viruses, to which she will not be immune. Is this really news to anybody?

I betcha Dr. Oz has something to do with this. *shakes fist*