A Bathroom Story

We recently remodeled our bathrooms. While the finished product is beautiful, living through it was unpleasant. Then there are the remodeling side effects of dust, dust and more dust. There's dust from the demolition of the old bathroom, from cutting tile, from cutting wood, from mixing grout; termite dust. Yes. They tear open your walls and see the effects of termites that had been having a heyday in your walls. Then there are all the chemicals and toxins: acetone, grout sealer, silicon, drywall. Lovely.
As much as I wanted new bathrooms and my most coveted pedestal sinks, I realized something. My wee little girl was having problems with all the dust and chemicals. In fact, so was my husband and so was I. My olfactory system is...highly developed? Very sensitive? Cantakerous? All these smells are like an attack on your nostrils, your respiratory system, your brain. Add that to the fact that Phoenix hasn't seen rain for four months and there's dust and pollution turning our skies into Southern California and you have a nasty recipe for illness.
So, once again, as much as I wanted new bathrooms, the effects on my wee girl were not pleasant. It makes me want to move to...where? Somewhere with no pollution? Somewhere with clean air? Does this place exist at this point in history? Don't get me wrong, I love life's luxuries--electricity, driving, flying, energy efficient windows--but there is a price to pay.
To complete my thought: no matter how nice a new bathroom is, it wouldn't mean anything to me if my little girl got so sick she hocked up a huge loogie in her sleep, choked on it and died. I realize that's a dramatic situation. I'm just saying.