As parents we are all familiar with the 5 second rule. This is of course the rule that declares you have 5 seconds as soon as the piece of food, sippy cup, or paci falls on the floor that it can be picked up in placed in the mouth just as if it hadn't fallen on the floor in the first place. Some of us may even try to be apologetic and actually wipe off the item before we give it back. And of course we think that the 5 second rule only is good at home and nowhere else. It's like we know that our floors are cleaner. At some point or another....or habitually for that matter, I think we're all guilty of following the rule.

I was invited to participate in a web conference for Clorox with comedian and Daily Show correspondent, Samantha Bee. We discussed the 5 second rule via video & twitter. You may have seen my tweets in regards to this. Anyways, I was stoked to be able to be in on it. I felt that this would be a great opportunity to come together with other moms (including a celebrity mom of 2) and share our quirkiness about letting our kids eat off the floor helping our kids build strong immune systems.

Well, Samantha Bee greeted us on the chat and dropped a bomb shell. She shared with us that Clorox and San Diego State University found that the 5 second rule was a myth! It's kind of like watching that movie Titanic. You know what the ending is going to be but you hold out hope that something might change. Yeah....no. It doesn't. The study actually showed that there is no grace period. If it goes on the floor it instantly picks up the germs. That doesn't matter if you're at home or at the store. Bummer.

I did appreciate that Samantha Bee was very real. She shared with us that she too was guilty of following the 5 second rule. She did say though, after reading the Clorox study she has been making a conscious effort not to follow the 5 second rule. Translated that means, not every time but most of the time so don't be too hard on yourself if this requires a transition. She also shared with us though some tips she learned & had been using from http://www.simpleandsurprising.com/ . This website shows that bleach can be used to disinfect surfaces or sippy cups/other items that fall on the floor. Sooooo, if you're not "conscious" enough to stop the 5 second rule from being observed, you'll know how clean that surface is.

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