It is a good thing that God chose to create us so that we don't remember anything from when we are babies. I hope Martin has forgotten about this day already. I hope I can forget it too. I felt like a pretty crummy parent today. I don't really want to go into the details, but I will share some of the highlights with you. Due to unforeseen events, Martin actually ate his lunch in the bathtub today. He didn't seem to mind that much, but we did end up with some chunks of carrot floating in the water. After his bath he fell and bit his lip; his drool was actually bloody for awhile, the poor guy. Later in the day, I wasn't paying as much attention to him as I obviously should have been and he managed to get a fistful of dirt from one of my plants into his mouth. I could actually hear him crunching it as he tried to chew it. I realize this will probably not be the last time that he eats dirt, (he is a boy after all) but it was not a very pleasant thing to witness. Thankfully Martin was very good in church tonight, and went to bed perfectly. And tomorrow is another day...too bad we have to spend about 6 hours of it in a car.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
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From a recent study on kids and allergies:
Getting children to eat dirt or move to an animal farm is the 'theoretical recommendation' of a Swiss study examining the causes of allergies and asthma.
Over 800 children living in the countryside were tested for their susceptibility to asthma and hayfever. Some of the children lived on farms, thus exposing them to high levels of dust contamination - including particles of animal manure. Samples of dust were taken from the beds of both the farm and non-farm children, and correlated with their allergic sensitivity.
On the face of it, the findings defy common sense because the least allergic children were discovered to be the ones who slept in the dust-covered farm beds.
The explanation put forward by the researchers is that endotoxins (bacterial poisons) in the farm dust act as 'potent immunostimulants' and strengthened the child’s immune system.
This ties in neatly with other studies showing that children growing up in pet-loving households have less asthma and allergies.
Timing appears to be crucial, however. The earlier the exposure to the endotoxins, the better - including even the first days of life.
In the past, the idea that eating a peck of dirt will bolster a child’s health has been regarded as something of an old-wives’ tale. But it has now been granted official status as the ‘hygiene hypothesis’ (N Engl J Med, 2002; 347: 869-77).
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