I agree about the muckiness. I used to have two dogs (sadly lost one this time last year), and two children. I remember when I was pregnant with my first, some of my friends were horrified when the found out I had no intentions of getting rid of my furry babies when the human one came along (even threatened to swop it for a puppy a few times). I've been to folks houses that look cleaner than hospital operating theatres, where the mums are paranoid about cleaning everything that comes into contact with their little darlings. Then they were wondering why their sprog got every little illness that was going around in reception year.
On a separate note, my brother did used to eat coal when younger, kinda explains a lot. A friend in the 6th form got addicted to Bonios, a group of us collectively bet him a pound each he wouldn't eat one, so he did. Then he said it was lovely, and to prove it used to eat them regularly.
There's nowt as queer as folk.