When my parents moved into their forever house (at least for 32 years), one of the first things my mother did was put down a linoleum floor in what was my nursery. Why? Certainly, not for the esthetics. This kind of flooring made it easy to mop everyday. No germs! No germs! It was a solution to make sure that no microbes got into the bubble that was my room. So much for that prevailing wisdom. The good news was I was playing outside a lot and we had a dog. Enter germs.

Recently I have seen a number of articles giving germs high-fives. I have to say that this germ approval is making me smile. Yeah! Germs are good for kids. Most first time parents are super vigilant about exposing their first born to anything germ like. I assume doctors are not advocating throwing caution to the wind – hand washing is still a good idea – but it does allow parents to relax a little. Those of us who went on to have more than one child got a whole lot more lax with the need to sterilize every little thing that dropped on the floor. It was the only way to keep our sanity. Who knew we were actually building stronger immune systems in our kids?