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Lynda Loveland: Let them be dirty!

I think I was the original, ring around the tub, kid. I would get so dirty on a daily basis

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Lynda Loveland
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Lynda Loveland

A lot of you know I grew up on a farm. I think I was the original ring around the tub kid. I would get sooo dirty on a daily basis. There was just too much to get into.

I don’t really remember being overly particular about washing my hands either. We always had butter and bacon grease sitting out. My mom would cut up meat on an old wooden cutting board and maybe bleach it every other week or so. But you know what, I nearly always finished the school year with a perfect attendance. Speaking of dirt and bacteria, a new study I just read found a possible link to a bacteria found in soil and intelligence.

Now, with kids of my own, I’m finding old habits die hard. I still have butter sitting out and I’ll keep bacon grease out for a day or two, in case I need to fry some chicken in it. J

I don’t believe in anti-bacterial soap. Regular stuff does the trick just fine. The first thing my kids do when they come home is turn over the decorative stone edging to look for bugs, snails, slugs, snakes and worms. (Please excuse the un-even landscaping if you happen to come by.) The other day my son came in with not two, not three, but SIX slugs on his arms! They love to make “monster soup” out of stuff they find in the back yard.

It’s hard at first to let go and not say a word when my three-year-old princess sits right in the middle of a big chalk drawing in her pretty dress. Or rush over to clean her when her ice cream cone drips all down her front. Why sweat it? That’s what washing machines are for. If they’re not dirty, they didn’t have enough fun.

Lynda Loveland's three-year-old

By the way, I’ve included a picture of my three-year-old, dirty as can be, in her Barbie wedding dress. She looks like she’s in trouble. She wasn’t. Just angry it was bath time.

Lynda is the mom of three and co-host of Mix 101.5 WRAL-FM's Bill & Lynda in the Morning. Find her here every Thursday.

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