Kids Have Cooties

Ok. Let me start off by saying that I love my nephews and my niece totally of course. We're all good friends and I'd do anything for them (anything within reason. I mean if they say go jump in that swamp and bring back a toad in your teeth... that ain't happening-- so it's not anything... but you know what I mean) That being said, over Thanksgiving I realized something-- kids have cooties.

One nephew had a cold-- so he had the double nostril nastiness going. Gross. So he was busy with his booger situation and I couldn't help noticing. And the kids are good about washing their hands after using the bathroom. But how good? Who knows with kids? (I once saw my nephew grab the rim of a toilet in a restaurant!) Between the snotty fingers and the bathroom mystery I'm finding myself sort of germphobic with kids. Not enough to change what I do or anything (Put it this way, the younger nephew dropped a piece of a mini-hot dog on the floor. He bit half of it and dropped it. So he brought it to me and told me it fell on the floor. To gross him out... I ate it. Straight from his mouth to the floor to his fingers to my mouth. So I'm not mental or anything.)

But when I hang out with kids I usually feel kinda contaminated afterwards. Like I'm definitely going to catch their cold or whatever they're walking around with. I mean they put their fingers in their mouth then in their nose then grab at my face! They're definitely some contamination going on there, right!? How am I not supposed to be somewhat grossed out? Granted I guess parents get used to that level of grossness after a while and build up super immunity or whatever but for someone like me with no kids... when I see a boogery kid goes up and grabs a handful of peanuts out of a bowl-- I can't help thinking, 'Well, that's that for those peanuts. They're boogered now.'

Keep in mind this is coming from a guy who picks up dog poop off the street daily and lets a dirty dog who sometimes pees on his friggin paws-- sleep in his bed. But with a dog there's an illusion that you're not getting contaminated. Like even though my dog sometimes pees on his front paws, I trick myself into thinking that by the time he gets home it's all magically flaked off or something. (if he really pees on his own paw big time I will through him in the shower and hose off his paws..)

But what can I catch from a dog? Dog flu? Kids have human stuff you can actually catch! Booger nose! Sore throat! Colds! Strep! Cooties! I guess one day if I have kids I'll get used to it and not notice the fact that my kid just sneezed snot into his hand and then touched my face. I guess I'll be fine with it and not think twice about it, right? But will I really? It's hard to believe.

Is anyone ever really immune...?

ok bye!

tOdd