Order a mug of hot water for impromptu silverware "cleaning"

Rookie Mom Heather's hack reminds me of toddler restaurant visits gone by:

Last weekend, when I got tired of Holden (21 months) dropping his silverware on the floor of the restaurant, I asked the waitress to bring me a mug of hot-tea-water so I could perform impromptu cleaning.  It worked great for rinsing the spoon and fork.  Might this also work for pacifiers and toys?

Comments

[Jen]

I guess my concern would be that the water wouldn't really be hot enough to be doing any real cleaning. Water has to be over 200 degrees (I forget the exact number) before it kills bacteria so while the hot water might do a good job of rinsing, it's not going to kill any floor germs.

[Caro]

Probably a good point about floor germs, but on the other hand my daughter (21 months too) puts stuff from the floor in her mouth so much that it's a losing battle for me to worry on that topic.

Still, there is that study that they did that said that the 5 second rule should be more like 30. Here is a link to one of the many articles: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-dropped_foodjun08,1,5068588.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

I like this hot water hack for peace of mind in getting off the little bits that stick to something dropped.

Thanks!

[Jasi]

It's a clever tip. A quick swirl in water and a wipe with a napkin is really the best you can hope for. Can't be too anal about germs or you give your kid a complex. Damn, I washed my hands with only "new" bars of soap 'til I was 12. Can't live like that.

[Matt]

That sounds like a great idea, but I think I'd want a glass of ice water handy to cool the utensil back down before giving it to my child.

[annette]

I couldn't agree more, Jasi. Germs are a part of life - by keeping your child's world completely sterilized you're simply delaying the inevitable super-infection, not to mention making your child as neurotic as you are!

[Jen]

Yeah, I get all that. I still think that after 5 minutes and a couple of "cleanings" then all you're going to be doing is dipping your child's silverware into lukewarm floor-germ soup. (And I say that as someone who is far from being a neurotic germaphobe. I just think letting your child eat from silverware that's been dropped on a floor in a public place where god knows how many people have tracked god knows what in is kind of gross.)

[Louise]

Well I think it's a super idea! How handy to be able to rinse & wipe dropped cutlery instead of asking for another one all the time. Thanks!

[Erin]

We've used a wet wipe for this purpose too.