Immune system – Sillyfrog's Blog

The destructiveness of human hubris seems to be ramping up. Have we learned nothing from the whole Covid-19 reaction by ‘experts’?
I don’t think many have.

I could create a long, detailed, timeline of my own thoughts on the last 3 years but I’ll spare you. Here’s my Reader’s Digest condensed version:
I found the 2020 expansion of the two week “slow the curve” shutdown experiment disturbingly authoritarian.
I had a sound basic understanding of viruses and our immune systems from high school biology.
I researched what was being called “disinformation” and found it credible.
I refused the experimental “vaccine” and chose to not comply with masking, 6-foot distancing, and excessive hand washing, as much as possible.
Never got Covid, and since, haven’t gotten sick with any other virus.
(All while ignoring nasty labeling, condescending treatment, and discriminating vilification.)

This morning, a grocery clerk was complaining about how she and her husband have been almost constantly sick this year. The customer ahead of me claimed she’s a nurse practitioner and said she’s never seen so much illness. I chimed in, “It’s because of the shutdown, you know. ” That nurse answered, “I have no doubt about that either.”
(If that clerk has had the “vaccine” and boosters, there’s also a growing ‘scientific’ suspicion that the “vaccine” itself may be interfering with the ordinary efficiency of immune systems too.)
Doing ‘nothing’ ended up being the best choice for me. Trusting Nature, and not interfering with it, often is our best bet.

After the Valdez Oil Spill, many years ago, scientists rushed in with fancy manmade ‘cleansers’ hoping to expedite the natural healing of the environment. A year later, under a too often seen headline “Scientists Baffled”, it had been discovered that areas “left alone” recovered more quickly than those they had ‘helped’. News flash: Nature knows best.

My last point comes from a post I read and responded to this morning. Our ‘stream of consciousness’ prompt was “wild animals” for today. Within the post, the writer had marveled how she had watched some wild seals scuffle, make a lot of noise, and flamboyantly assault each other, only to calmly end up sleeping beside each other. The writer went on to suggest “humans should learn how to get-along that way.”
I’ll just post my succinct comment on her post:
“A comical view of Nature. Thanks for sharing!
On the topic of ‘mixing it up’, resolving differences, and then slumbering like a seal, I agree!
IMHO…the current human over-sensitivity to “bullying”, has created unnatural interference by adults in ‘natural’ skirmishes among children. The ubiquitous claiming of ‘zero tolerance’ for” name-calling”, “shoving” or even “emotionally charged disagreement” has contributed to the uptick in unhinged viciousness among adolescents. By not allowing youngsters to learn how to resolve conflict on their own while small, they are becoming dangerous ‘powder kegs’ later on.”

I really want to know, “When will ‘doing nothing’ become a viable choice again?”
Human beings think they “know” so much that IMHO their arrogance of presuming they can direct, interfere with, and “save”, the natural world, is alarmingly dangerous to our survival.

Safety first and “You can’t be too careful.” are two common phrases in our language, especially, pertaining to kids.

I believe keeping a keen eye on safety is very important but also know that parents can be careful to the point of causing more danger to their kids.

The first area where ultra-cautious parents endanger their kids is by being “chokeaphobics”.

Baby’s first solid foods can drive, some parents, crazy. There are lists of foods that I would never feed children under four.

whole hot dogs
whole grapes
Young couple with baby. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
peanuts (most nuts) but walnut meats are softer than most.
sticky, chewy candy like gummy bears
hard candies
popcorn (sometimes okay)

You see, at about a year old, kids have their first exposure to chewing food for swallowing. Gagging can be an alarming sound but it is a noise from a reflex which alerts the child to chew. The sound also lets us know that his/her airway is not obstructed. Up to the time of the first solids, babies are gulpers. Parents who “cream” everything and avoid approved baby “munchies” just because gagging frightens them, are encouraging their baby to continue gulping. Chewing must be learned and the earlier, the better. An over-protected eater will have more gagging and choking episodes in later years when other kids are chewing things, like popcorn, without incident.

Then there are the “germaphobic” parents.

Germs are not all bad and even those which offer colds and stomach bugs, have value. Unless your child has a compromised immune system, let them mingle.

Babies are clean slates. Their immune systems are too. As much as we dislike a sick baby, the illness makes baby stronger. Children who rarely get to play and exchange germs with each other, will not only be in for a “plague” of illness when they go to school, they may really get sicker when they are older before they are exposed.

To me, the worst over protection is what I’ll call, the “bumpaphobic” parents.

You’ve seen them. The ones who interrupt “rough and tumble” play at every opportunity.

Kids are pretty sturdy creatures. Their bodies are developing many groups of muscles, and sadly, there is not manufactured child-safe equipment suitable for every need. Kids who aren’t challenged by uneven ground (they will fall)or jumping off of steps (they will fall) or climbing up things that cannot hold their weight (they will fall) are deprived of lessons in balance, depth perception and the physics of living with gravity. Too the extreme, “bumpaphobic” parents create clumsy, accident prone kids who won’t keep up with their peers.

These are my biggest over-protective peeves. I’ve witnessed every one in my day care experience of 38 years and thought I’d warn parents OR give a printable text to offer someone who is witnessing over-protection.