Dirt For Your Health?
Occasionally, if I can willfully ignore the doomsday articles on the economy and avoid the stark accounts of human atrocities, I find myself paragraph deep in a news article that breathes hope and inspiration. One that provides a virtual pat on the back, either in print or on-line…
Three kids, one dog and an overflowing schedule are not the elements of choice for a perfect home interior. I’m OK with that. I gave up that obsession back when I slid from being a “Type A” personality to more of what I term a “Type A-” mode. Basically, it was my decision to focus “Type A” tendencies on specific and select areas, and to let things like the exterior Christmas lights lolling on my front bushes linger another holiday if necessary without leaving a guilt residue. Reasonable; right?
When I recently bumped into a NY Times review of “Why Dirt is Good” by Mary Ruebush, I smiled. Her premise is that ultra-clean environments can be detrimental in that they don’t allow a child’s immune system to “explore his environment.” Hope for the harried…
Years ago I ran across a study that reached similar conclusions, and my immediate response was to mail the clipping to the only friend with a life more chaotic than my own. We had curious toddlers and needy babies. “Free time” was theoretical at best and an illusory hope on most days. I knew she’d be grateful. We agreed by phone that on the days our homes were closer to “disaster” than “designer”, we would at least hold on to the hope that we were “immunizing our children.”
True or not, this is a theory I can buy into. It’s a handy notion for messy, dirt-dusted vacations like last summer’s Utah trip, too. I’d rather believe that I’m absorbing helpful minerals than simply getting dirty. And while notions such as these are not going to get my kids out of any cleaning chores, it’s a helpful thought on the days I catch myself caring a little too much about the kitchen floor.
