NYC Moms

I am ALL Over this Gender Neutral Boys in the Kitchen Thing!

Being that tonight is the Fourth night of Chanukah and I just finishing researching the latest and greatest holiday toys for an article I just wrote, Happy Lead Free Holidays, I really believed I had the whole toy situation figured out!

But unfortunately, each successive day --since writing that feature, seems to be bringing with it another report that the toys I and other well-intentioned Mommies out there are lovingly choosing for our little unsuspecting children are actually covered in lead, asbestos, the date rape drug--and so many more toxins,it's a wonder that our kids have survived as long as they have!

Then I got this message from a friend of mine..Here's a little bit of what she said,-I think this was originally taken from a Jay Leno quote...

Get The Lead Out!!!!!

This is cross-posted from our sister site, DC Metro Moms Blog.

I’m becoming increasingly concerned and frustrated about the safety of my children’s toys.

Ever since Widget was born, I have bought and advocated for the purchase of wooden and natural toys.  We buy responsibly, from small firms or those who have repeatedly assured moms and the public that their testing is frequent and thorough.  We make many of our own toys, out of pieces of scrap wood (okay, Grandpa makes many of those); PVC pipe and connectors; ribbon, yarn, boxes, and similar “found” materials, both to reduce our environmental load on the planet and my children’s exposure to the plastic crap that dominates the children’s toy market these days.  They also fit my bias towards toys and materials that encourage my children’s creativity, encourage them to ask questions, and can be used three ways.

We weathered the great Thomas Recall of ‘07, the Polly Pockets Debacle, and the Sesame Street/Elmo/Fisher Price Roundup with only limited damage.  Limited in our case meaning one measley James train and a stop sign were collected, declared “sick,” and sent to the “hospital” to be fixed.  All our other wooden trains are Ikea or Brio, so we felt pretty good about our trainyard escaping relatively unscathed.

That is, until I learned that the CPSC, the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission, has exactly ONE full-time product tester on staff.