the germs are gonna get you

There is a discussion going on in one of my parenting newsgroups regarding carrying your child vs. using a cart while shopping. What prompted me to post about this was not the original question. Of course, there is no right answer.

You carry your kid? Great. I’m so glad that works for you.
You use a shopping cart? Fantastic. So happy to hear it.

What really annoyed me to no end were the million and one ridiculous replies.

Oh, my child has never been in a shopping cart.
I would never expose my “DD” to the germs.
I never touch the shopping cart handle. It’s so gross.
My “DS” got sick the day after he was in a shopping cart, so I will never use another one.
I clean the cart with an antibacterial wipe before my child can sit inside.
I only place my precious darling in the cart after I’ve lined it with plastic, padded it, and added an organic all-cotton quilt on top. (Ok, I made that last one up.)

One poster actually tried to sell cart covers to the rest of the group.

Um, people, kids eat their own boogies. In fact, some kids will eat others' boogies. Antibacterial wipes don’t do diddly for viruses. Which by the way, take an average of 2 weeks from the date of infection to make you sick. Besides, you know that kid with the runny nose… the one that was playing with your kid, yesterday at Gymboree, he probably ate his own poop for lunch that day. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You’re not going to be able to protect them from every little microbe. You’re not supposed to. They need the exposure to build immunity. GET OVER THE GERMS!!!!!!! /rant

Sorry, folks. I can't say these things on the group, so I vent here.

In more interesting news, Zane now knows how to tell people his name. For the last few days, he's been pointing a thumb at himself and saying "day-un". What's that you say, "that's not his name?!?" Well, it's close enough for me, and it hapens to be very cute, too.