or are feathers dirty?

[AlCrowley]

DS (3) is currently obsessed with feathers. Not exotic coloured ones from shops but pigeon/blackbird type feathers from the garden/park/street etc. He finds them everywhere and insists on picking them up and bringing them home. DH and MIL think this is a lovely thing to do but it makes my skin crawl.

Surely, feathers are covered in mites and poo and bugs just like the birds - they don't call pigeons rats of the sky for nothing do they!?

Worse yet - I've just found DS offering 6 month old DD his current feather and it's all wet so I think she's got it into her mouth

I've made him put the yukky thing outside now and he's upset.

So AIBU or are feathers just a bit gross.

YANBU - I totally agree.
Sometimes we have to just take a deep breath and allow them to find out for themselves though. I'm sure textures etc are good for them. Perhaps they'll get it out of their system!!

(BTW - do you hate sand too?)

wash them for him?

Yes, leave feathers where you find them. I've always regarded them as less than hygienic....

No, quite happy with sand. It's the germs and the fleas and the mites than make me feel all itchy.

I could wash them I suppose but would they ever really be clean?

You could boil them maybe, or would all the feather fall off the spine bit?...

It's bigger than feathers, of course. There are a lot of other things you could potentially find on the floor outside that could be pretty nasty and best left alone. So getting small children out of the habit of picking things up outside isn't a bad umbrella strategy.

I think of them as too filthy to touch. I hold my breath if a pigeon flaps near me.

i tell dd that we need to leave the feathers where they are in case the bird comes back for them

it works thus far

YY Chil! Don't like sticks either.

You never know what other people have poked with them and combined with his habit of absentmindedly chewing whatever is in his hands when he's distracted....!!! Yuk

Oh sod it its good for their immune systems.

Yes they are a bit bleurgrrr I suppose but probably not as bad as we think.

Poor 6 month old eh? 2nd child syndrome (or 3rd/4th) but you know what I mean.

Ooh, good plan chibi. DS is also 3

YANBU i hate filthy feathers too, my ds and my nieces ds collected some on the beach and i refused to allow them in my house !! funnily enough i'm not too keen on sand but not because it's dirty i just hate the feel of it !

Yes Sloany. NSB DD is a lot less 'protected' than PFB DS

YANBU. My DD went through a 'fevver' phase, she spoke like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins too. I think I dislike them so much because I am terrified of birds. Could you buy him some nice clean ones or a feather duster made of the tail ones of ostriches or a peacock fevver? I doubt they'd have the same allure as the found ones but it could be worth a try.
I too loathe sand and cotton wool.

YANBU. There's been a manky old feather sitting in the living room for days and it's giving me the heebie jeebies. And my DH and mum think it's sweet too. My mother actively looks for feathers to give them. Weirdos.

Christ I've never given it a moments thought.

Dc's constantly collect feathers/sticks/flowers/seeds/stones and squirel them away.

On Sunday we went to the park and spent an hour collecting duck and goose feathers then we brought them all home, I drew a huge duck on cardboard and dd and ds spent aaaaaaaaaaaaages glueing all the feathers on.

Am I a crap mother?

I remember being constantly told they were dirty when I was growing up.

I've always liked this classic description from The Producers: "He keeps boids. Dirty... disgusting... filthy... lice-ridden boids". Especially when applied to pigeons and seagulls.

I'm not allergic to feathers and I do think children need to add them to the general sensory checklist of stuff that's known about. But I'd just be a tad cautious about which feathers are picked up and certainly, I don't think they need to go near mouths!

Wherethewildthingare you're a terrible mother simply for putting the rest of us to shame with your creativity.

WheretheWildThings...we have a similar picture but it's of a magpie type bird.

I've no problem with them and have never thought of them as being dirty.

No problem with feathers here - but then I was encouraged to play in mud, pick up frogs, paddle in the stream, eat fruit from the hedges, etc. Once found a dead bat and brought it home to show mum and dad, but forgot about it and only rediscovered when it really honked. Was an interesting lesson in maggots and decay though...

No I'm with you there - vile things and I'm not keen on birds from the germs point of view (I'm really not all that bothered about germs generally).

Funnily enough - my MIL (an ex-nurse) believes cats to be filthy creatures and won't go near mine yet feels perfectly at ease bringing any manky old bird's nest they've happened to find for my kids to look at/hold. I think that's just plain weird.

YANBU. Especially pigeon feathers - rats with wings.

sorry, was away doing dinner. Fajitas, yummy

Perfect description Gloria "He keeps boids. Dirty... disgusting... filthy... lice-ridden boids" That's it! I know they're full of lice and fleas and it just makes me itch!