Friday 10 July 2009

PI Potty Mummy at your service...

So today is the first day of the summer holidays. And whilst one part of me thinks; 'Great! No getting up at the crack of dawn to get to school by 8.15am, lots of time to spend one on one with my Boys, let's kick back and take it easy for a while', another part of me thinks something else entirely. Like;

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
As a result this will be quite a short post...

Before I go though, Carex have been in touch. I know, I know. My rock and roll lifestyle knows no limits. However, as a mum who has had a child with MRSA (most likely contracted at hospital - although nothing is certain), I'm very interested in making sure hands get washed properly, so when I saw that they're running a campaign called 'Hands up for Hygeine' aimed at making sure children get the habit of washing their hands properly young, I was understandably interested.

Amongst other things, Carex have offered to send me some products to review (whoopdidoo) and some games to encourage the Boys to wash their hands properly. This would be helpful since as all mums know, boys are generally allergic to cleanliness (Exhibit 1: Boy #1's nails yesterday evening. Exhibit 2: Boy #2's yesterday evening). As for washing their hands properly, I suspect that in fact they don't wash their hands at all much of the time, although I am seldom able to prove it...

However, and more interestingly, Carex have said they may be able to loan me a special lightbox thingy to check out just how well hands are washed when they do encounter soap and water.
Now THAT I want to see. Can you imagine? As someone who just yesterday evening was telling my sons that not only do I have eyes in the back of my head, I have them in my ears as well (they don't understand the concept of peripheral vision just yet, so I just call it magic), I foresee hours of fun here as follows;

Have you washed your hands?
Why yes mother, I have.
In that case you won't mind undergoing my patented 'mummy-always-finds-out-the-truth-sooner-or-later' lightbox test...
No! Not the lightbox test!
Move them into the light... show me your hands... Ha! I knew it!

However. This one could be a double-edged sword. I also think that if this gadget is as portable as they make out, it could lead to all sorts of difficult situations, with CSI-style scenario's cropping up everywhere. Oh, it would start off easily enough. I might check that a waiter has washed his hands when he passes me a glass of wine. But then I might move on to checking out shopkeepers as they pass me my change. And heaven forbid, will this gadget work on inanimate objects? Like taps in public loo's, or door handles, or - please, no - hotel sheets?

For the sake of my sanity, I should probably say no.

I won't, though. It's far too tempting...

13 comments:

  1. Oh I look forward to hearing the results!!
    Lovely chatting with you earlier.
    x

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  2. I just about threw up when I looked at my sons hands during dinner tonight... This was after he had "washed" them before coming to the table. I wont even go into the other things I see them do with their hands and then not wash them... you have boys, I am sure you know the type of disgustingness that they get into.

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  3. No! No! Don't get that machine! Yuck! I wouldn't even want to know where all the dirt and grub is on my kid!

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  4. Oh, Lisa might have a point, ignorance is bliss and all that. Mind you the results will probably make for some funny blog posts so I hope you get it!

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  5. But how are they going to build up their immune systems? When my mum used to teach she always said it was the scruffy kids who never caught colds.

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  6. Too much cleanliness is not good either, we need a little grubbiness to build up our immune systems.

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  7. An ICU nurse friend of mine told me she was horrified to see how much was left on her hands after she'd done a thorough medical wash at the beginning of her shift, using one of those boxes. From then on, she used to take her wedding ring off when at work - she'd never bothered before, but was shocked at how much bacteria it harboured.

    Now, here's a good question for Carex. What steps are they taking to eliminate chemicals with proven carcinogenic qualities from their products? Surely of great concern to mums.

    I haven't researched this kind of stuff very much (don't want to become a natural products bore), but the two that jump off a google search are sodium lauryl sulphate and sodium laureth sulphate (twins, I think). They are added to make a product foamier, so I would guess that Carex is full of them.

    Point out to Carex that this issue is gathering huge momentum worldwide (a friend of mine, another friend of mine, me, you...), and there are plenty of non-expensive all-natural alternatives on the market, so if they are intelligent, they will jump on the bandwagon before it rumbles out of town, leaving them and their carcinogenic ingredients running to catch up.

    My no.2 got what I thought was stress eczema after the arrival of baby no.3 - until I worked out that he was so excited by the new Carex handwash in the bathroom that he was using copious quantities several times a day, and not rinsing it all off properly. Hence the eczema on the wrists.

    (Why don't I write my own blog posts instead of cunningly disguising them as comments and putting them on your blog?)

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  8. Oh, and could you ask them for tips on how to persuade children that they are meant to wash the dirt off their hands in the basin, not swing their hands under the tap for a millisecond and then use the towel to wipe the dirt and soap off together. Sound familiar?

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  9. I'm with Lisa, I wouldn't want to know what was on my kids' hands, I think it would frighten me!
    When you've got babies you're always washing your hands. I get contact dermatitis if I wash mine too much. Oh dear, I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't!

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  10. I like the new picture and blog description. Or have they been around for ages, and I've just not noticed?

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  11. You are too funny. Still laughing at the image of catching them under the spotlight!

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  12. So tempting - my boys definitely use Iota's approach and waft their hands somewhat near water and then try to rub all their grim off on a hand towel. I also firmly believe in Expat Mum's view...that grubby children are inherently healthy children (but then I would, wouldn't I?)

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  13. This gadget sounds great...I shall get one for the boys and their father

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