Wanted: Bubble

Remember the good ole days? When KFC was still Kentucky Fried Chicken? When restaurants had smoking sections that were in the same open space as non-smoking? When kids could stretch out in the back window of the Buick during a long car trip?

Okay, maybe those weren't the good ole days after all. We were practically sticking our tongues out at death on a daily basis. It's a wonder we managed to live this long really.

So now we avoid trans fats and second hand smoke. Our cars have air bags and car seats have five point harnesses. The world is once again safe. Right?

Wrong.

Losing a child to cancer could easily send me into a downward spiral of germ phobia. And yes, I am admittedly more germ phobic than most. But I'm not quite ready to give up indoor plumbing for a life apart from civilization in the great outdoors. A girl has her limits. There are so many things that we know cause cancer. The aforementioned second hand smoke for example. Naturally, we avoid those clearly identified cancer causers. Naturally. But what is a girl to do when everything seems to carry a cancer warning label? EVERYTHING I tell you.

I belong to a yahoo group through our adoption agency and recently someone asked about the risks of nightlights. Apparently they heard that they were bad for kids but couldn't remember why. Being the complete moron that I am, I turned to the almighty world wide web for answers and promptly googled "nightlight dangers". And of course the words "may cause cancer" immediately popped up on the screen. What else would I expect? I think I could google* "butterfly dangers" and "may cause cancer" would appear. But back to nightlights. It seems that our bodies need darkness to produce melatonin, a hormone that prevents cancerous growth formation and development. Permanent bright light suppresses the production of melatonin. Now logic would say that nightlights are not bright lights. And logic would also say that a study conducted by the Russian Ministry of Healthcare should not be trusted. But logic, my friends, disappeared somewhere around the time my darling girl was diagnosed with cancer. So bye bye nightlight.

Next came the Canadian study revealing the risks of Bisphenol A (BPA). Apparently the lovely little ingredient that makes polycarbonate plastic clear and shatter-proof also has this minor side effect of causing cancer. And since most parents enjoy a clear, shatter-proof baby bottle, most manufacturers use polycarbonate plastic in their baby bottles. Again, I turn to my friend the world wide web for answers. With Lillian, we used the BPA-filled, fancy schmanzy Avent bottles recommended by our pediatrician. Our son, being the lazy sucker that he is, refused to use these hand me down bottles and instead uses the economical Playtex drop-ins. Not even the more expensive Playtex Premium drop in system, just the plain ole original bottles. Well two pats on the back for being cheap...uh I mean, being FRUGAL, because low and behold, our bottles do not contain BPA. Phew.

Then last week I decided to check out a package of Seventh Generation Chlorine-Free diapers. The earth-loving members of the adoption yahoo group had many discussions on their love of 7th Gen diapers. Apparently they work great and are better for the environment. So for once, I turned to the package for answers instead of the world wide web. But the same stupid words - "cancer causing" - practically reached off the package and slapped me in the face. Apparently the chlorine used to make our dear Huggies a beautiful shade of white also produces dioxin, a known cancer causing pollutant. So we are, of course, now the proud owners of a package of chlorine free diapers. And chlorine free wipes may be next! So much for those great bulk buys from Costco.

If we have learned so much since the good ole days, just imagine how the world will change by the time our children are parents. They will look back and wonder how they managed to live through their childhoods filled with polycarbonate bottles, chlorine bleached diapers, nightlights and WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE!!!

I will try to stay sane but not take unnecessary risks. Believe me, that is a very fine line. Does anyone know of a bubble for sale that we can live in? Anyone?

*I have to giggle that the blogspot spell checker indicates "google" is mis-spelled. Blogspot is a service of Google. Shouldn't they recognize the spelling of their own company?