Allergies

I can admit that I’m a nerd, which is why I watch a lot of what most would call educational videos on Youtube. One of my favourite channels to watch is Minute Physics, where the creator Henry creates quick videos describing a topic in physics. But there’s a twist, Henry draws everything by hand. After the success of Minute Physics, Henry and his team set out on a new channel called Minute Earth, based on the same premise except it just looks at everyday topics.

He posted the above video the other day on the benefits of exposing your child (born or not) to different things (like a slobbering dog) to reduce allergies. Henry always bases his videos on science and studies, and the idea here is that exposing children to different things doesn’t give them an immunity, but it just helps their bodies better deal with these things.

When I saw this video today I immediately thought of how Meg and I think about raising Nathan. We have always said we don’t want Nate to grow up in a bubble. We will let him get dirty, let Guinness lick his face and hands and we want Nate to scrape his knees and bump his head (just not too hard). Meg and I both did “fun” things when we were young, and still have some of the marks to show for it today. It’s all part of growing up and learning.

At the end of the day we want Nate to be a kid that knows the difference between safe and dangerous, right and wrong and to enjoy a nice peanut butter sandwich!

Note: I am by no means saying that not exposing your kids to certain things will make them more likely to become allergic. My sister-in-law grew up in the same house as my wife and I’m sure was exposed to all the same things. And she has many allergies and Meg has very few. So there is likely still something else going on.