By Ty Bollinger
“Wash up, kiddos − it’s time for supper!” I don’t know about you, but I can still hear the tenderhearted voice of my mother giving this routine beck and call. My childhood days were spent fighting imaginary wars with my brother and sister in our back yard, playing baseball with my dad, picking strawberries with mom, and having fun outside in the hot Texas sun.
My mother’s hope was that all the grit and grime we picked up during our backyard escapades and baseball games would keep from settling on and around her dinner table. This was a reasonable expectation, considering the copious amounts of dirt we most certainly tracked all over her carpets and floors.
Now, to be honest, mom’s concern wasn’t so much about the “dirtiness” of dirt, as it was about its unsightliness. Mom simply wanted to keep her house and children looking clean, especially during mealtimes. She wasn’t all that concerned about the supposed “danger” of germs. This was because it was generally understood back then that being outside is good for kids and helps them build a strong immunity.
Here’s an old photo with me, my brother Ron, my sister Cherith, and two of our friends playing “cops and robbers” (circa 1976). Yes, that’s me on the left in my pink tank top. LOL!
This is in stark contrast to the sterility mindset of many of today’s parents today who try to keep their children away from dirt in order to protect them from infection and disease.
Why am I bringing all this up, you might be asking? The answer is simple: our natural world is filled with germs. But many of these germs are beneficial for our health, conferring all sorts of protections both in plants and people.
My mother and many others like her never would have been able to verbalize this with any sort of