The other day I gave Olivia a piece of gum because she spontaneously came in the kitchen and cleaned everything off the floor (the one job that is almost impossible for me right now). She popped it into her mouth, and then it was bath time.
While the girls were playing in the tub, I heard Olivia burst into tears. (Yes, I confess I do leave my children semi-unattended in the tub. I never leave hearing range, but I don't spend 15 minutes sitting in the bathroom while they play.) When I went in to see what was the matter, she told me she had lost her gum and wanted me to find it. Well, I "tried real hard" to find the lost gum (nasty!) and told her it was gone for good. I helped her calm down and get dressed. When I pulled Zenna out of the tub a few minutes later she looked at me with a mischievous look on her face and said, "I find gum!" and kept on chewing. I hurried to get her out of Olivia's sight, and she swallowed the gum before anyone else knew about it. Not only ABC gum, but ABC gum that was floating in bathwater! It still makes me gag to think about.
I am a firm believer that such exposure increases immunity. I have to think that or else I'd go crazy.
Amen to it all - including the staying within earshot of the bathtub. I don't sit in there either. Makes my mom and grandma nervous, but then I could just remind them of the things my uncles and brothers did without parental supervision - leaving them in the bathtub is nothing!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, you are just improving their immune systems. Like letting them eat grass and dirt. It's good for them!