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My sis-in-law is the type who not only doesn't allow smoking in her house, but also loads her kids up on a pharmacy's worth of medicines, won't have a pet, and (I'm not joking) literally wipes her kitchen and bathroom down with BLEACH every time she uses it.

Guess what?

Her kids (and she) are sick ALL THE TIME. They have spent the entire winter fighting coughs, colds, flus, and other assorted viruses. But they CAN'T fight them (especially the kids), because she hasn't allowed their little immune systems to GROW. The instant the children get even the teeniest bit dirty (like when playing with MY kids, for example), she rushes them off to the anti-bacterial soap factory that is her bathroom.

She is shocked (SHOCKED, I tell you!) to find that I do not own one single bar of the nasty orange stuff (Ivory for us, thanks).

Now, while my house isn't dirty, I confess to not being the "I've got to dust, vacuum and sterilize this place every day" type. Having a sterile house is fine if you never plan to go OUT, but unless you are a hermit, you will go out and get exposed to all kinds of nasty little bugs. With no natural immune system upon which to rely, you may as well be wearing a great big bulls-eye for the germs on your back.

As far as I'm concerned, the best way to keep everybody healthy is to OPEN THE DOORS or CRACK THE WINDOWS to let fresh air in.

Sis-in-law insists on an hermetically-sealed house. It's clean, but it smells like a dentist's office...

Regards,