Annie Bacterial

I have a friend, let’s call her Annie Bacterial, who is one of those anti-germ freaks.  She is always washing her hands, making her kids wash their hands, and never goes anywhere without Purell. Seriously, the second Annie’s kids or husband walk in the door, they MUST wash their hands.

At this point you, reader, are either thinking, “weirdo” or “yes, of course”.  I am in the “weirdo” category.  I am not a germ freak, and do not understand germ freaks. Especially since, considering the evidence, Annie is way off base. Annie has two boys that are the same ages as my two middle children. Since we’ve known this family (about four years) the boys have had strep three times and full blown influenza (the kind that the hospital reports to the State Health Board) twice.  They also throw up and have sick days from school constantly.

My children on the other hand, are almost never sick. We all had the flu (the barfy kind) and strep when we first moved to Utah six years ago, but that’s about it. When we moved to Texas, I sent for our Medical records. We went to the same doctor in Utah for the last four years.  They didn’t even have a medical record for Finn since he’s never been sick that entire time.

I make my kids wash their hands after they go to the bathroom.  I try to remember to have them wash their hands before meals, but I forget a lot. I only use Purell at the zoo since there could be some weird Avian diseases floating around. Otherwise, I’m pretty mellow.  If my children were getting sick all the time I might think differently. But generally I roll my eyes at the germaphobes out there.  I’m sure some of you would qualify.  It kind of seems like a trait people are born with. I guess I just prefer life on the wild side.

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8 thoughts on “Annie Bacterial

  1. I’m with ya sista. 9 years ago, my very first “married” day with my husband, I woke up and went to the kitchen with my bare feet. He freaked out, told me I should really put on socks because that would be gross to get my feet so dirty! Yeah, I’m proud to say he had to get over that really quick! I’ve converted that “germ freak” over to the normal side. And btw… I did know he was a germ freak before I married him, but I didn’t know to what extent! It took a lot of work!

  2. I guess I’m in the “weirdo” camp. I don’t allow my kids to complain about germs…no freaking out about double dipping and the like, but I do get squimish about buffets and public restrooms. (Even though they are probably cleaned more frequently than mine.) My kids aren’t sick very often either, just injured!

  3. again, why we were meant to be:
    i am horrible about making them wash hands for dinner–i’m actually a naughty non-hand washer for dinner, myself. i DO insist in bathrooms, but other than that, we don’t stress.

    i have a friend like yours and her kids are CONSTANTLY SICK. hmmmmmm, cooincidence? i think not.

  4. HAHAHA! I guess we fall into the same “weirdo” mind frame. Though I am a bit more “freakish” in the winter. My poor kids have asthma and a small cold can cause huge chaos. So we do wash our hands more during the “cold” season. But for the most part I forget often. My kids are fairly healthy (besides the asthma/cold issue) but this last winter was a miracle in our house, we were the healthiest EVER!!! YAY!!!

  5. Before I got married and had kids I think I was more of a germ-freak than not. But after changing so many poopy diapers and cleaning spit-up, you just have to start mellowing out. And, if the newborn phase didn’t pull me out of my obsession with germs, potty training DEFINITELY did it. After watching your child slide all over and put their hands on a public toilet, you quickly realize that it ain’t gonna kill ya.

  6. I’m with you…hand wash after the restroom, before meals when we have been digging in dirt or when I remember. Thankfully, we are healthy. Have germ freak friends and wonder how they carry all that germ crab in their purses!

  7. Ya, I’m definitely not a germ freak. I just don’t care about that stuff. I figure if I’m going to get sick, I’m going to get it from the hundreds of times a day I touch anything that has been in contact with the world outside–money, doors, handles, etc. There’s not much I can do about it. Why stress on top of it?

  8. I am right there with you. I am not a germ freak and the only time I insist they wash their hands is after they go to the bathroom. I try to remember at meal time but I’m not the best. For the most part my kids are pretty healthy, but everyone gets sick sometimes and I just don’t stress it too much.

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