I’m pretty relaxed and would let my kid eat something off of our floor but not an airport or airplane, not a bathroom, not high traffic public places. You sound pretty reasonable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t let your kids touch trash cans? What exactly is your concern there?

OP, that is weird.

OP here and my concern is germs. I have seen rats climb out of them, and people puke in them. I just feel like the garbage festers, including dog poop bags and other nasty stuff.

How are your kids supposed to throw things out independently if they can’t touch garbage cans? I don’t think you have thought this through all the way.

NP. I'm extremely not germophobic but even I try to avoid coming into direct contact with public garbage cans. I try to get my trash through that swing door without actually touching it with my hand. I get it! Yet, for whatever reason, I wouldn't really cringe if my toddler licked the floor. I know it's not rational.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t let your kids touch trash cans? What exactly is your concern there?

OP, that is weird.

OP here and my concern is germs. I have seen rats climb out of them, and people puke in them. I just feel like the garbage festers, including dog poop bags and other nasty stuff.

How are your kids supposed to throw things out independently if they can’t touch garbage cans? I don’t think you have thought this through all the way.

By the time this third kid came into the world, I let him play with shoes and the stroller tires. Rarely washed his hands. He’s the healthiest of all my kids today.

In short, it’s a FTM issue (or someone with extreme anxiety).

I'm probably on the germaphobe side of things, but I don't really see that as a bad thing. I realize exposure is good for the immune system. I also realize that my thumb-sucking 3 year old and crawling baby get plennnntyyyy of exposure, so I do what I can to minimize the ick. I also don't like public trash cans, or buses, or metro, or grocery carts. I always try to wash hands as soon as soon as we're inside from somewhere. But I'm also not bathing in hand sanitizer. FWIW, somewhere I read that your cell phone is the dirtiest thing you come in contact with all day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t let your kids touch trash cans? What exactly is your concern there?

OP, that is weird.

OP here and my concern is germs. I have seen rats climb out of them, and people puke in them. I just feel like the garbage festers, including dog poop bags and other nasty stuff.

I'm the same as you, OP.

Anonymous wrote:You don’t let your kids touch trash cans? What exactly is your concern there?

OP, that is weird.

OP here and my concern is germs. I have seen rats climb out of them, and people puke in them. I just feel like the garbage festers, including dog poop bags and other nasty stuff.

You don’t let your kids touch trash cans? What exactly is your concern there?

OP, that is weird.

I would have my kid wash their hands after touching the ground if he was licking them. I tend to be pretty low stress about germs. I didn't worry too badly about eating dirt, I stopped DS but I didn't freak out about it either. I don't worry about food that is dropped in most situations. I tend not to remind him to wash his hands before eating. My DH is on the other end of the spectrum. (shrugs)

I'm very relaxed but I still don't want my kid licking his ground hand.

Starting to wonder if I'm too worried about my kids and germs. Example: today in Panera, my 2 year old rubbed his hand on the ground and then licked it and I made him go wash his hands. I also don't let my kids touch public trash cans.

Is that normal or over the top?

Sometimes I see kids eating cheerios off the ground at the airport and I wonder: is that parent nuts or am I the one who is?