Brace yourself: The 5 second rule is a myth!

Heart breaking news isn’t it? …  But its ok… I have a giveaway at the end that will make it all better.

My fantasy world surrounding this myth began to tumble down when Melissa, The Consumer Queen,  asked me “do you believe in the 5 second rule?” to which I laughingly responded, “depends where the said 5 second occurance happens”.  I thought to myself “Good answer!”  After all, I wasn’t about to openly admit to a fellow blogger that I, myself practiced the 5 second rule on countless occasions and possibly more since I become Mom to two. No way! Then the Mom Blogosphere might find out I wasn’t perfect like moms are suppose to be- and if there were 2 things I was sure of- it was that Moms are meant to be perfect, and that thus far, I had done a gosh darn good job convincing my fellow Moms that, that was exactly what I was (with the exception of the teeth incident) ;)

I was then invited to participate in a web conference for Clorox with comedian and Daily Show correspondent,  Samantha Bee where we would be discussing the 5 second rule via video  & twitter. It sounded like fun so I said, “sure!” all the while thinking, “but I sure as honey am not owning up to ever using the 5 second rule. Nope! let someone else be the example”.

You see, in my heart of hearts I knew the 5 second rule was probably not the best parenting practice- but when your kid is always insisting on dumping her cheerios onto the carpet anyway, why dirty a dish?  Know-what-I’m-sayin’?   (ba-dum-bump!)  Ok, ok- I’ve never gone as far as serving my child cheerios on the carpet (a la the perfect picture of parenting, Jon & Kate), but I can see the logic. And I’m just sayin’- possibly- once or thrice my kid has possibly dropped a cheerio, or nugget on the floor and ate it. It wasn’t day old food! I followed the 5 second rule, which made it perfectly ok-ish.

So, when Samantha Bee greeted us on the chat and told us that Clorox and San Diego State University found that the 5 second rule was no good, it was kind of like when you come back from vacation and find the scale went up 3 lbs.- I knew it was coming. The study showed exactly what I always knew deep deep deep down inside- that there is no grace period. Food that falls on the floor for 5 seconds or 5 minutes- is sadly still food that fell on the floor and instantly picks up germs.

I was surprised to see  Samantha along with so many other parents on twitter saying that they not only practiced the 5 second rule, but sometimes the 10 or 30 second rule!( 10? 30? seconds… NEVER! scouts honor!)

Samantha, a mom herself- kept it very real with us. While she did say that since reading the Clorox study, she was making a conscious effort in not using the 5 second rule- she didn’t use the word NEVER. Instead, she shared with us some tips she learned & had been using from www.simpleandsurprising.com to keep the surfaces in her house more clean and germ free. So that if by chance a cheerio falls on her floor & someone in her house puts the 5 second rule in play – she knows its as clean as it possibly can be.  (Tip: Stock up on Clorox wipes are heaven sent for quick & easy disinfecting.)

After talking candidly about how to keep our house a more germ free, we all got to ask Samantha some questions about parenting, balance & her experiences as a working mom.  It was just a few minutes of  girl talk that passed way too quickly. So quickly that  I never had the chance to ask Samantha the burning question I had.

So, Samantha- if you are by chance reading this… keeping in mind that I promise to Clorox my house from top to bottom,  lets just say hypothetically- I am in an area that I’m not 100% sure has been disinfected, but am mostly sure its clean-ish- and my complicated child drops her sippy cup and is screaming at the top of her lungs for it back- while I’m on the phone with President Obama discussing solutions for our countries financial crisis… Is the “kissing it up to God” rule still ok?

… Ok, don’t answer that.

You see, that’s why I didn’t ask ((sigh))

GIVEAWAY!

So my Complicated Mama’s …. It’s your turn to share– & more importantly– WIN!

Do you have any funny stories about your experiences this now debunked rule?

Are you brave enough to share them via photos, or videos?  (oo pretty please do share videos & pics!– for me?)

Leave a comment with your story or link to your  pictures or videos (mwaa-ha-ha-ha) and one of you will win a Clorox Gift pack valued at $20 with a variety of Clorox Products.

For a chance to win a second prize……

Tweet @Clorox with the item you use the 5-second rule with most and you will have the chance to win a $50 Visa gift card. Use #smpl&surprising in your tweet!

Full Disclosure: Though I was compensated for this post with a gift card, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Tagged as: 5 second rule, clorox, daily show, germs, jon and kate, samantha bee