Worried about Buying Toys for Christmas?

by Sherry Holetzky | More from this Blogger

28 Nov 2007 06:26 AM

I don't want people to panic and I'm not trying to convince people to refuse to go Christmas shopping or anything like that, but I'm still uneasy about buying toys for the kids in my life with all the toy recalls lately. Are you?

It's not like this has only been an issue with one or two toys, some kind of fluke, there have been massive recalls and some of them quite serious.

The AquaDots recall was quite unsettling but I'm not over all the lead paint just yet either. It seems to be used in many items, things I'd never suspect. How does lead paint get into plush toys anyway? The eyes or other features maybe? I have no idea how it gets in there, but it needs to stop.

Most of my kids are getting bigger, so thankfully there are not tons of toys on my Christmas list. There are still a few things and I do have six nephews and other kids on my list. My girls and I usually like to give something during various toy drives too, but I'd rather not give a gift than end up giving a child a Christmas present that's poison!

Is anybody else angry about this? Pardon my rant, but our government just doesn't seem nearly as concerned with the poisoning of first our pets -and now our children- as I feel it should be.

What can we do about it?

We can stay informed and be very careful concerning the products we plan to purchase. Remember that potential problems will frequently be discussed in the news well before a product is recalled (check world news too... lots of sources online).

*I learned about AquaDots (under another name) from Australian news sources, which were shared by a citizen journalist friend. I then traced it to the American version of the toy, which had yet to be pulled from shelves.

Something else we can do is contact our lawmakers and let them know that the situation is simply unacceptable and tell them we want to know what they're going to do about it. Try current candidates as well. There's no better time to put some pressure on politicians to get things done than during an election season.

Product Recalls: Toy Safety Information

(AquaDots) Toy Recalled for Mimicking Date Rape Drug if Ingested

Learn more about Sherry Holetzky

Sherry Holetzky is a work at home mom and freelance writer. Married to her best friend, Sherry and her husband are raising their family in a quiet rural setting in the beautiful Ozark Mountains.

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