Who is grossed out by this?

[mirth]

Who is grossed out by teachers in little kids' classes who dole out portions of snack food to all the kids using their hands? ex: grapes from bowl, crackers from a box, unwrapping a juice box straw and fingering almost every inch of it before inserting it in the box.

[Jen500]

It doesn't gross me out, but I would hope the teacher and maybe the kids would wash their hands first.

[TwinMominTX]

None of this grosses me out in the least.

[Jennifer in MI]

Nope. I'm good.

[pooh bear]

No grossness here.

[ThatCyndiGirl]

Nope, not grossed out. Sounds normal to me.

[ConnieB]

It doesn't gross me out, but I would hope the teacher and maybe the kids would wash their hands first.

 

Yeah, right. :lol::tongue_smilie:Most of the time snack comes after some activity, maybe even where the kids are sitting on the floor, meaning teacher and everyone else has had their hands on that lovely floor. Same hands that then serve and eat the snack.

 

Reason #45879546370891657 that I'm glad I homeschool. And at Sunday School, Girl Scouts and every other group thing, my kids know to say "no thank you" to snacks. We'll have a snack at home afer we've washed up.

 

And lots of the parents that look at my kids like they feel so sorry that mean old mom won't let them have a snack, can't quite figure out why MY kids rarely come down with the cold/flu that goes through the rest of the group. Hmmmmm, I wonder............

[nukeswife]

Nope, not bothered in the least.

[tex-mex]

LOL - not me! I used to teach Pre-K and early elem grades. The rule for EVERYONE is to wash your hands (teacher included) before we do snack time. I always had to model the behavior to the kids. And yes, I would put my (clean) hand in the COSTCO container of Goldfish to share with those who did not bring a snack. Or open cheese sticks. Or juice boxes. LOL ;)

[T'smom]

I'm sure that the majority of teachers that serve snacks wash their hands first. At least they'd use hand sanitizer. I used to serve snacks in Sunday School and I always washed my hands.

[mirth]

Yeah, right. :lol::tongue_smilie:Most of the time snack comes after some activity, maybe even where the kids are sitting on the floor, meaning teacher and everyone else has had their hands on that lovely floor.

 

I've noticed 9/10 times when any sort of washing is asked of anyone, the adults only make kids wash hands before eating. Like adults are somehow free of germs

 

Btw, rubbing the floor I can deal with. It is the same person who coughs into their hand, scratches their head, flicks a few light switches, opens the door, and who never washes but then serves is the one I'm easily blehhhed by.

[JudoMom]

I'm not grossed out either.

[dangermom]

Nah. I've seen what those kids do to each other. Pick nose, then hold hands, then rub heads and roll in the sand. A teacher's hands cannot compare.

[MeanestMomInMidwest]

It doesn't really gross me out. I assume the teacher hasn't been picking her nose or scratching her butt.

 

Here's what does: I was helping in my daughter's Kindy class (she goes 1/2 day while I teach the boys at home) and the kids were doing centers. The last center was "snack." No washing hands in between (play-dough was right before snack and I saw a child work a booger into the play dough). I asked the teacher if the kids could sanitize their hands prior to snack. Nope. Sanitizer is not allowed because the "school administration" is afraid some kid will lick it off their hands and get sick. She added "hand washing" to the centers flow right before snack.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Not grossed out. Most adults I know do wash their hands before such an activity. And even if they don't on occasion, most healthy immune systems can handle it.

[Carrie12345]

Doesn't gross me out.

Then again, I have a kid who tries to eat off of the floor like the pets, girls who eat crackers while catching frogs and an 11yo who still needs to be reminded to wash his hands after every single bathroom trip. So I'll cop to being desensitized.

 

P.S. I am completely anal retentive about washing my hands after petting my dogs. People who touch their pets and then touch food DO gross me out, so I'm not completely desensitized.

[MotherMayI]

:iagree:

Nope. I'm good.

[Doodle]

From my experience, most adults do not wash before handling food. Most never even think about it. At family gatherings, I've witness people show up, head right into the kitchen to help and start handling the food without washing. And I mean handling. Grab each and every roll out of the bag with their bare hands. Pick up appetizers one by one with their fingers to arrange on a platter. Rearrange the meat platter with their fingers to make more space. And when they wanted ice, just open my freezer and start grabbing. Does anyone wash their hands before a meal when at a restaurant? I do not consider myself a germ-a-phobic, but I do think washing before eating is very important. I carry hand sanitizer and hand wipes.

[Rosie_0801]

I have toddlers. If I was to worry about this sort of thing, I'd be in a state of perpetual cringe. Eventually I'll have to teach them that this kind of thing is icky, and please don't chew something your brother has chewed even if he leaves it enticingly on the sofa, but for now...

 

Rosie

[Night Elf]

I know we learn things as time goes by, but this kind of thing was so normal in my childhood. I've worked in a daycare and we had to do all those things for the toddlers. The cook used gloves and we did too sometimes. We washed our hands alot during the day, but I guess some people would be grossed because we did change diapers too. It's kind of hard caring for toddlers without touching them or the stuff around them. This is not a sterile world and I can't imagine running around with gloves and a mask, though I do see some people doing that. I'd rather just stay home if I felt that bad about germs and whatnot.

[Jen in PA]

I don't worry about it much when it's my kids getting the snack, but I try to be especially cautious when I'm the adult doling out the snack to other people's kids. I did a counting activity with preschoolers at co-op this week that involved me counting out ten dried cherries for each child. I gave everyone including myself a squirt of sanitizer before we got started with the activity. I have a feeling the parents in the room appreciated it, but maybe it's not a big issue for some people.

[momof165]

Nope - not grossed out either.

 

Sonja in CO

[Ibbygirl]

If the teacher washed her hands first it wouldn't bother me. The thing that bugs me is when they dole out fruits like grapes, blueberries whatever and they are not washed. That grosses me out.

[keptwoman]

Add me to the not grossed out list.

[EKS]

That doesn't gross me out. What grosses me out is when they let the *kids* dole out the snack food to themselves using their hands, 'cause that's a whole nother ball of wax.

[AngieC]

Nope, it doesn't bother me at all. I would rather accept that germs are a part of life rather than constantly stressing about the germs to which my kids are exposed and trying to figure out ways to avoid them.

[gingersmom]

That does not gross me out as much as the food vendors at street fairs.

 

There is no place for them to wash their hands. Gross.

 

So they touch the roll or some other part of the food, hand it to you and then take your money. Then they repeat the same thing all over again.

 

Or they wear gloves and touch the food, then the money and everything in sight with the same gloves on.

 

Gross.

 

My kids have never eaten at a street fair.

[happi duck]

ewwww!!!!

 

Washing hands is very, very important!!! When I was a kindergarten teacher one of my students was receiving chemotherapy. It was very important that he not pick up every cold etc. because he could miss a treatment. I instituted a far more rigorous hand washing policy, above and beyond what what I already required. My class was the healthiest in the school, by far. When flu and pox ran through the school my class stayed healthy.

 

When I serve snacks to kids I don't use my bare hands or let kids grab from the same bowl. I'd expect the same from an adult serving a snack to my kids.

[abbeyej]

If the teacher washed her hands first it wouldn't bother me. The thing that bugs me is when they dole out fruits like grapes, blueberries whatever and they are not washed. That grosses me out.

 

Yes, precisely. If the hands and fruit are washed first, I'm not distressed.

[Daisy]

What? This is nothing.

 

My husband's first graders

 

Suck on erasers.

Lick their desks.

Eat their boogers.

Chew on their pencil and then loan it to a friend.

Drop their spork on the floor and then eat with it.

Crawl on the bathroom room.

Sit in the urinal and flush over and over again.

Stick their hands down their pants.

 

You can be sure the teacher washes his/her hands to an almost OCD degree. LOL.

[Desert Rat]

Not bothered at all.

[HRAAB]

Not at all. In fact, this would be the least of my worries.

[NorthwestMom]

Due to my teaching experience I have become a religious hand washer. I sincerely believe most teachers wash their hands/use sanitizer far more than most adults. The skin on my hands gets so dry that it cracks in the winter from washing so often!

 

So no, not grossed out.

[lollie010]

That doesn't freak me out, but I was shocked when I took my 14 mo to the nursery at church last week. I had to stick around because he would not let me out of his sight. The nursery was for 1-2 year olds. The nursery worker let the children get their own animal crackers out of a big container. Each of them just stick their little hands in there, pawed all over a few crackers and pulled one out. Then they gummed their little snacks and went back for more with their hands still wet and slimy. Don't get me wrong--I love slimy, slobbery, baby fingers. But, that was a little too much for me to handle.

[swellmomma]

It does not gross me out as long as they have cleaned their hands. I would rather 1 teacher do this than all the kids reaching in with their grubby hands. I always washed my hands or at least used sanitizer whether we ate snack in a daycare room, the play ground, zoo, etc, and then handed out snack.

[swellmomma]

Due to my teaching experience I have become a religious hand washer. I sincerely believe most teachers wash their hands/use sanitizer far more than most adults. The skin on my hands gets so dry that it cracks in the winter from washing so often!

 

So no, not grossed out.

 

I have this problem too. I wash so much at home, but when I worked in daycare I would have cracked bleeding hands often in the winter from washing so much, which is why I switched to using sanitizer 50% of the time to ease up on my poor hands.

[tex-mex]

What? This is nothing.

 

My husband's first graders

 

Suck on erasers.

Lick their desks.

Eat their boogers.

Chew on their pencil and then loan it to a friend.

Drop their spork on the floor and then eat with it.

Crawl on the bathroom room.

Sit in the urinal and flush over and over again.

Stick their hands down their pants.

 

You can be sure the teacher washes his/her hands to an almost OCD degree. LOL.

 

:lol: YES!! Back in the early 90's when I taught K/1 grades... I had bleach spray (hidden -- they were not allowed) to wipe down tables & chairs at the end of the day. I'd always wipe the door handle and light switch. We ran a air purifier. My immune system is compromised... trust me, if I get sick... I'm down for a long period of time. So when I taught, I made sure the classroom was extra clean and kiddos washed their hands before eating. The custodian always loved my classroom as it was clean before he came -- he knew to follow up and do a second round of cleaning. LOL

 

Let's not even discuss the boy's bathroom or when someone vomited in front of the class... ugh!!!! I agree that due to my preschool teaching and teaching K-6 grades, I became (and still am) a stern advocate of washing hands. Ack.

Edited March 14, 2010 by tex-mex

[Mermaid Mama]

When you consider that the food industry is allowed by law to have a certain percent of roach parts and rat feces and hair in the food they manufacture - someone's (hopefully) recently washed hands don't bother me at all!!! (I am more afraid of what we don't see).

 

We should all be grossed out by big business food manufacturing processes - but alas! all it has done for me is let me be less grossed out about people germs!!!! Once I realized that I had been eating roaches with every chocolate bar and rat hair and droppings in every loaf of bread for my entire life.....I just realized there's no hope and gave in to it. If you can't beat them, join 'em!!!!

 

I tell all the "germ freak" kids this in hopes that they will realize we swim in a sea of germs and the only thing we can do is keep ourselves healthy enough to deal with it. I do require hand washing before eating but not for bacterial or viral reasons. I am grossed out by parasites and lead.

 

My good friend's mother (now in her 70's) told me years ago that when she was a kid her uncle used to work in a jelly making plant (I think it was Smucker's) and some of the nasty men would spit hockers in the jelly vats. Her uncle wouldn't allow his family to eat jelly!!!

 

Also - I know FOR A FACT - that they do not recover every body part that a worker loses in the manufacturing of our food. So, as disgusting as is it, I am sure we have all been exposed to more than we care to imagine.

[Mermaid Mama]

That does not gross me out as much as the food vendors at street fairs.

 

There is no place for them to wash their hands. Gross.

 

So they touch the roll or some other part of the food, hand it to you and then take your money. Then they repeat the same thing all over again.

 

Or they wear gloves and touch the food, then the money and everything in sight with the same gloves on.

 

Gross.

 

My kids have never eaten at a street fair.

 

I agree with you! All fairs are disgusting!!

 

We were at the fair recently and my young friend was trying to carefully (and unsuccessfully) pull apart a funnel cake I was sharing with him. He didn't want to touch the parts that others would be eating. I said, "X, we're at the fair. Germs don't count here. We're all disgusting right now and still eating with our hands. Drink lots of water when you get home."

 

It's really not the germs so much as the parasitical eggs....ewwwww....I just imagine all the kids who are scratching their butts and then holding on to the hand bars of the rides.....YUCK!!! But - we can all be exposed to pinworm eggs and only a few of us will get it. It has to do with intestinal health. Once I realized how hardy those pinworm eggs are.....I decided to keep acidophillus on hand in the fridge and dose my kids regularly. We also eat raw pumpkin seeds.

 

It is a nasty world out there and it doesn't help my brain with TV programs devoted solely to parasites and the weird circumstances by which folks become infected!

[Chris in VA]

When I taught preschool, we were very good about washing hands, both our own and the kids'. Part of our routine was to use the potty, wash hands (and they sang Twinkle Twinkle or the Alphabet Song during washing so they washed long enough, and we watched to make sure there was soap use!), then come in and choose a book while we set up snack. The snack kid helper had to have either hand sanitizer or re-wash his hands.

When we got to the table, everyone got a baby wipe and we sang a handwashing song while they wiped AGAIN.

We also bleached tables before setting up snack b/c there were toys on the table prior--and at the end of the day, the whole room got wiped down. Toys in housekeeping got a thorough wash at the end of the week, and any mouthed toys got put in the sink right away.

 

Sigh. I wish I kept my home as clean.

[mrsrevmeg]

That does not gross me out as much as the food vendors at street fairs.

 

There is no place for them to wash their hands. Gross.

 

So they touch the roll or some other part of the food, hand it to you and then take your money. Then they repeat the same thing all over again.

 

Or they wear gloves and touch the food, then the money and everything in sight with the same gloves on.

 

Gross.

 

My kids have never eaten at a street fair.

 

Mine, either. There were some taco wagons in our town recently until the mayor had them all shut down that my husband kept saying he thought I'd enjoy. (some people he worked with would buy stuff there and he thought it looked like something I'd eat) I had to confess that I have never eaten at a hot dog stand or anything like that because of the ewww factor.

 

But I am a teacher in church classes that passes out food to kids. I wash my hands and do not pick my nose (like most of my classes) so I am okay with their food being touched.

[Diane in NH]

I don't worry about this kind of thing. I obviously think basic hand washing is important, but my sister who has her doctorate in microbiology convinced me to stop using all the anti-bacterial stuff.

 

A lot of studies are now suggesting that so many more kids are getting asthma because we are over cleaning. Here is a quick article: http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/conditions/04/05/cohen.allergies/index.html but there are many other similar things.

[Jenny in Atl]

We should all be grossed out by big business food manufacturing processes - but alas! all it has done for me is let me be less grossed out about people germs!!!!

 

:iagree:

[mommaduck]

Not grossed out.

[MeanestMomInMidwest]

When you consider that the food industry is allowed by law to have a certain percent of roach parts and rat feces and hair in the food they manufacture - someone's (hopefully) recently washed hands don't bother me at all!!! (I am more afraid of what we don't see).

 

We should all be grossed out by big business food manufacturing processes - but alas! all it has done for me is let me be less grossed out about people germs!!!! Once I realized that I had been eating roaches with every chocolate bar and rat hair and droppings in every loaf of bread for my entire life.....I just realized there's no hope and gave in to it. If you can't beat them, join 'em!!!!

 

I tell all the "germ freak" kids this in hopes that they will realize we swim in a sea of germs and the only thing we can do is keep ourselves healthy enough to deal with it. I do require hand washing before eating but not for bacterial or viral reasons. I am grossed out by parasites and lead.

 

My good friend's mother (now in her 70's) told me years ago that when she was a kid her uncle used to work in a jelly making plant (I think it was Smucker's) and some of the nasty men would spit hockers in the jelly vats. Her uncle wouldn't allow his family to eat jelly!!!

 

Also - I know FOR A FACT - that they do not recover every body part that a worker loses in the manufacturing of our food. So, as disgusting as is it, I am sure we have all been exposed to more than we care to imagine.

 

Well, NOW I'm grossed out!

 

The best policy, really, is to not think about it! :tongue_smilie:

[Punks in Ontario]

Nope, not grossed out. I'd assume an adult would be a bit compulsive about hand washing.

 

And it's far better than a bunch of kids all reaching in and getting their own. I bet even with hand washing, they have a lot more gross germs hanging about on their hands!:glare:

[Mermaid Mama]

 

The best policy, really, is to not think about it! :tongue_smilie:

 

Yes. I do this an awful lot!!!!

 

I have read studies which say that the reason farm kids are so healthy is the fact that their immune system was put to work early and the body had to fight off real big bad germs....so now it knows how to deal with the real bad stuff and ignore the stuff that isn't a real threat (like pollen) and so not only are these kids tough, they don't have asthma and allergies to the extent of the "normal" population. Kids who grow up in overly clean homes end up with a slew of allergies because their bodies don't recognize that pollen is NOTHING compared to the real germs because they never got a good dose of real germs and so the immune systems go into overdrive when exposed to simple innocuous things.

 

Just a theory of course.....but one with merit in my opinion!!

[MeanestMomInMidwest]

Yes. I do this an awful lot!!!!

 

I have read studies which say that the reason farm kids are so healthy is the fact that their immune system was put to work early and the body had to fight off real big bad germs....so now it knows how to deal with the real bad stuff and ignore the stuff that isn't a real threat (like pollen) and so not only are these kids tough, they don't have asthma and allergies to the extent of the "normal" population. Kids who grow up in overly clean homes end up with a slew of allergies because their bodies don't recognize that pollen is NOTHING compared to the real germs because they never got a good dose of real germs and so the immune systems go into overdrive when exposed to simple innocuous things.

 

Just a theory of course.....but one with merit in my opinion!!

 

Hey, I read something like that too....and have been using it for years as my justification for not having a spotless house. :D

[myfatherslily]

Who is grossed out by teachers in little kids' classes who dole out portions of snack food to all the kids using their hands? ex: grapes from bowl, crackers from a box, unwrapping a juice box straw and fingering almost every inch of it before inserting it in the box.

 

So you won't feel all alone, I'll go ahead and say that it's kind of gross to me, too:) But I'm not easily grossed out by stuff, so I don't know why it bothers me. It guess I just think that if you don't HAVE to touch the food, you shouldn't. For example, why stick your whole hand inside the cracker container if you could just shake it onto their plate? Why touch the whole straw if you could just touch it once in the middle?

 

I'm far from a neat freak, though! I suppose if I was getting rid ready for a class full of children on a daily basis, I might end up taking the faster approach.

[Laura Corin]

So long as she has washed her hands I see nothing wrong with it.

 

Laura