Just read
this article from the Y! Front Page
It's about the benefits of playing in dirt to children's immune systems. I grew up in a clean house with no pets (except for a few goldfish that didn't last past our first vacation away from them). If I got a spot of dirt, my dad made a scrunchy face, exclaimed "eeewwww" and passed on the notion that it was just absolutely HORRIBLE to be dirty. We were then rushed to the sink for sanitization.
I have allergies and had asthma at one point (still a little i think). I wonder if any of that can be attributed to the pristine state of our household. I wonder if it's too late to start getting dirty now...
I also think it might have had something to do with my mom being surrounded by smokers when she was preggers...
i dunno... one or the other =P