Anti-Chicken people - a vent

[Queen of the Lilliputians]

I am absolutely steaming mad today. A couple of weekends ago my ds and dd went over to their grandparents to play. My dh had bought a blow-up kiddie pool to go over there, and two of my neices and my nephew were also over.

Ds (who is 5) told me last night that his mimi (step grandmother) told him he got chicken germs in the pool. Huh? I asked him again, and he said that she told him, "ut oh, you've been holding chicks!", and that he had gotten germs in the pool.

Ok.. first, I'm a stickler about hand washing with them. They are chickens, and there tends to be poop in odd places in the run.
Second.. Ds doesn't hold the chicks on anything like a regular basis, and I'm pretty sure he hadn't held them AT ALL that day. WTH, really?

Well, actually the last laugh will be on my step-mother. I give my Dad 6mos and they will have chickens free-ranging in their yard! Still irritates me, though. un Anyone else suffering from this demented form of bigotry?? I can just see her thoughts now, "how could they raise their kids with those nasty, dirty birds?"

-Meghan

 

[schmoo]

One word............Ignorance

Don't let it bother you

 

[Chelly]

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr
I feel your pain, how can an ADULT say something like that to a child!!
You need to talk to her! If she has an issue with "chicken germs" tell her to talk to YOU not a 5 year old!

 

[Frozen Feathers]

Chicken germs??? You know that you are actually more likely to catch something from your cats litter box...that's why pregnant women are supposed to touch litter boxes...ever have of doctor telling a women, "now stay away from those disease ridden chickens."mmm?

People are just ignorant, that's all...she should be booted though for telling a 5 year old they're spreading germs from his pets... of course that's my opinion....

 

[jenichick]

I completely understand your frustration. I was raised by someone like that, my stepmother. She almost gave me a complex when I was yound. She was a germ freak, no pets, no dogs or cats in the house, everything sterile. I loved animals, and mud pies, and dirt!!! (still do) Now I have two big dogs and a cat in the house, they sleep on my bed, and I hold my chickens every night. I can hear her now, oooooh you have dogs in the house, ooooh you hold those nasty chickens....ha ha ha...what a sad life.

I do not think it was appropriate for her to tell that to a child though! I can't wait until my grandaughter is old enough to help me with the chickens!!


I would ignore it unless it happened again, you don't want him thinking he's germy!

 

[tink]

Hey... I would much rather have my kids have a little poo on them than be watching viedo games and MTV all day. In my yard we have cat, dog chicken and goat poo and all the other creatures who come through here that we dont know about. A little poo never hurt you! Tink

 

[MTchick]

Some people are waaaay behind the times. My step-grandmother thinks that holding a frog or toad will give you warts, and yelled at my mother for letting me catch them when I was a small child. My mother actually thought until recently that the feathers of wild birds could give you "a case of mites." I'm a wildlife biologist and it took me years to convince her that while feathers often have feather mites, I won't get a "case of mites" from them.

Sometimes it is hard to get past this stuff. My other grandmother was a very harsh anti-semite. It got worse when she became senile, and I know that it made my cousins Jewish wife extremely uncomfortable. But my cousin-in-law always held that grandma did not know she was being so hurtful, and that she was a product of her times and upbringing. It was an incredibly graceful way to handle the problem and the rest of us (highly tolerant catholic, atheists, and protestants) all respected her so much more for her patience with our crazy rude grandma.

Anyway, the moral of that tale is rise above. Vent to us, and then rise above!!!

-MTchick

 

[justusnak]

Awww, your poor son. Im so sorry. THAT WOMAN needs to hold a chicken!! She OBVIOUSLY needs "chicken therapy" LOL I just feel bad for your son...to have to hear that from his "dear mimi" Jeesh! Someone he looks up to I am sure. Just reassure your son, YOUR chickens are not dirty..and germy.

 

[Judymae]

Okay got to say this--My MIL used to gripe about all my animals. Said my house stunk. I told her that her house stunk too from all the cigarette smoke and that when I leave my house no odor is on me. But that when you leave her house you smell like a walking bar. It was a fight for over 10 years between us. Finally she died from lung cancer. I won't die from my animals.

 

[michellerene]

Does she eat eggs & chicken from the grocery store or a restaurant? Now those are some seriously dirty chickens!