daughters/granddaughters

[U2here]

At the dinner table my granddaughter dropped meat, daughter picked it up and put it back on 4and halfyr old's plate.I was shocked and I guess it showed tho I didn't say anything. Daughter said they often eat things that they dropped, even outside! She proudly said that she ate gum she found on the pavement when she played out as a child 'and it did her no harm'. They have a garden that is 'used' by her cat and the three who live next door. I did not argue or give any opinion,g'daughter was at the table and a bit emotionally upset as she is in her first term at school. I have been thinking about this all night and wounder if I should tackle her in private, at all or just send her the definition of hygiene and toxocariasis. Why am I so worried when clearly daughter doesn't care.

[ProfYaffle]

Well, it's all about context isn't it? I sometimes pick up stuff the dds drop at home: chunk of sausage roll on kitchen floor = OK, pasta in tomato sauce on the carpet with fluff on it = not OK. Freshly dug carrot covered in mud = ok, sweeties dropped on the patio where the chickens poo = not ok.

Re the chewing gum, all kids get up to stuff like that when we're not looking don't they?

[paisleyleaf]

That 5/7/10 second rule.....
it's actually just about getting it to your mouth before anyone sees. - if you can do it without getting noticed it's fine.

[Hulababy]

Presumably the little girl plays with her toys and teddies on the floor - does she ever put them in her mouth? Is it really any different?

[ilovesprouts]

we always say 2 second rule

[Besom]

I let dd eat stuff she's dropped on the floor all the time.

And we have a cat .

[Geocentric]

at paisley...

[Whoamireally]

I have one rule for public and one for private. The conformist part of me will not let either dd eat anything that's been on the floor in public but we adopt the 5 second rule at home when no-one is looking.

I think many mums are the same as me. If I thought I could get away with the 5 second rule in public I would I am a firm believer in a peck of dirt actually being good for you - my 3 1/2 year old hasn't had a day off sick from nursery in well over 18 months.

Oddly though my kitchen floor is most likely dirtier than most places in public, which at least get cleaned regularly - so perhaps this is all just psychological?

To bat your own question back at you OP, why are you so worried? I'm just wondering if this is actually more about your relationship with your daughter than about hygiene? It seems like there's two issues here; one is the cats shitting in the garden (no-one likes that, and toxoplasmosis is horrid) but that's completely different from just dropping a bit of meat on the floor surely?

Incidentally, if your daughter's cat has 'claimed' her garden as its own, it's unlikely that any other cats will use her garden as their toilet - don't they just dump in gardens that are 'no man's land'?

[U2here]

Thank you all for the thoughts you have posted.
I guess it's more about the possibility of the worms that kids (and grown ups) can get from the cat poo in the garden which is laid neatly on the lawn by DD's cat AND the ones from next door. No one walks in it if they see it first but it might happen when daughter goes up the garden in the dark to shut up the chickens.

I will try to 'chill' and I really won't send anything about hygiene but it has really helped to see what others feel about this,