Hi there,
DD (5 and a half) has started to concern us - recently she seems to worry a lot about germs.
Some examples:
- today a little girl who she didn't know touched her leg while we were in a queue. She told me she wanted to wash her leg because of this when we got home.
*She grabbed a leaf whilst in the park and fussed about how it may be poisonous and that she needed to go back home to wash her hands.
*She fusses a lot when she wees, taking ages to wipe and using three lots of loo roll. I've shown her again and again to model how she should do it, but she obviously doesn't feel that my way is enough!
*After having a wee or poo she washes her hands for ages - with soap, she told me she does 20 scratches of her fingers on one palm, then 20 on the other, then 20 between her fingers and so on... She did a 'Glitterbugs' thing at school where they showed germs under ultraviolet light and showed the correct hand-washing technique, so I think this is where this behaviour comes from.
*a friend's son drank from a cup at our house (her favourite cup) and for two days afterwards she refused to drink from it, even though it had been washed.
*she fussed about using the toilet in a disabled/baby change cubicle because of 'germs'.
*she's very squeamish about her little brother (2 and a half) and often won't drink from the same bottle as him because of 'germs'.
*possibly the earliest example of this - the only time she was ever 'naughty' at nursery was when she was 3 - she point blank refused to hold hands with with a little girl and was put on the naughty chair. When we asked her about it at home she said it was because the little girl had sticky hands.
We've tried to reassure her regarding the examples above, and focussed on the fact that germs are normal and yes, you do need to wash and be clean, but not too much, and that it's actually bad for you not to have any exposure to germs. But we also don't want to make too much of a fuss as she is the type to be encouraged to continue as she likes the attention!
There is a history of OCD in the family on both sides - DMIL has it, but superstitions rather than cleaning. It is done privately so DD wouldn't have seen this as a learned behaviour. My deceased grandmother had severe OCD regarding cleaning but, again, DD was never exposed to this as she died before she was born. I'm wondering if these are relevant not as learned behaviours but as a genetic disposition?
DH and I are not particularly houseproud and don't hoover or dust that much (
) so it's not learned from us!
So, what does this sound like to you? And what should we do?
Thanks.