Recall: Tiny Love Wind Chimes

A nice bonus to buying stuff on Amazon are the notices that they send out when an item that you purchased is recalled.

Case in point, I received a notice about a Tiny Love recall. It's just as well because despite having bought the toy 3 or 4 years ago, we still have it.

Recall: Tiny Love Wind Chimes

If you'd like a reliable method of keeping up to speed on recalls, consider signing up for email notices from the CPSC. You never know when you'll be affected.

13 Gift Ideas for Kids

The number of toys that have been recalled for one reason or another is atrocious. It's really got me thinking that I don't want just anything for MetaBaby because you don't know the integrity of the item. This goes double if you haven't had the opportunity to vet the item in question. That said, what do you do when Christmas or birthdays come around? People want to give your son gifts because they care about you and him, and they want to see that little face light up (his, not yours). So it's hard to say "please don't give my child a gift." It's not fair to the giver or to the kid.

I'm also torn because of my aforementioned resistance to buying too many toys.

Well, there are always ways to compromise. There are good, safe toys that MetaBaby could benefit from, so I made a wishlist for him at Amazon. It includes items like books, music (that I wouldn't hate), and a few safe toys. Of course, there are always other things, but those would involve conversations. For example, MetaNana got MetaBaby one of the cutest little wooden trikes I've ever seen, and it was perfect because he didn't have one. He uses it all the time, and it allows him to express his dangerous side (i.e., standing on the seat!!).

That said, I figured I'd compile a list of 13 other gift ideas to give or be given that:

• don't break the bank
  
• are useful to parents and kids
  
• potentially good learning experiences
  
• are not plastic, over-packaged, blinking things made in China

This is just a start, so feel free to add on with more ideas :-)

1. Get something small to keep the little one happy, and make the real gift a deposit into a 529 account.
   
2. Homemade "coupon" for something fun with you, like a day at the zoo or museum.
   
3. Give homemade sweets (e.g., cookies, chocolates).
   
4. Take a cooking or baking class together. Or a "class" where you teach the little one how to cook or bake.
   
5. A few seeds and other relevant items to plant something (e.g., flowers, herbs, tomatoes).
   
6. Tickets to a favorite event.
   
7. A class or series of classes (e.g., dance, art, something at a local museum).
   
8. Pick a favorite non-profit organization to donate to (e.g., cute of Oxfam).
   
9. Perhaps the instructions, tools, and help in building something (e.g., soapbox car, or check out The Dangerous Book for Boys or The Daring Book for Girls from the library for more ideas).
   
   From New Dream:
   
10. The makings for hand puppets: Brown lunch bags, googly eyes, stray buttons, scissors, markers, etc.
    
11. Box of dress up clothes: Old dresses, high heel shoes, cowboy boots, collared shorts, and millions of other fun outfit ideas can all be found at thrift or second-hand stores have great selections.
    
    From Suite 101:
    
12. Gift certificates to a local movie theatre.
    
13. Art supplies (e.g., construction paper, paints, crayons) to replenish the back-to-school box.

Side Note: This is not a cheap gift, but it's an interesting one. Between November 12 and November 26 only, the One Laptop per Child program has made available their revolutionary XO computer.

For a donation of $399, one XO laptop will be sent to empower a child in a developing nation and one will be sent to the child in your life in recognition of your contribution. $200 of your donation is tax-deductible (your $399 donation minus the fair market value of the XO laptop you will be receiving).

Perhaps it sounds crazy to give a destructive toddler a computer, but consider the following per David Pogue, guru to the geeks:

• Spillproof
  
• Rainproof
  
• Dustproof
  
• Drop-proof
  
• Fanless
  
• Silent
  
• Powered by a solar panel (6 hours, or 24 if reading) (2,000 recharge cyles, 4 times more than the average laptop)
  
• Weighs 3.2 lbs.
  
• Built-in video camera, microphone, memory-card slot, graphics tablet, game-pad controllers and a screen that rotates into a tablet configuration.
  
• Runs on Linux (only geeks care about this one ;-)

Lead Found in Baby Bibs?

I hadn't heard about this lead scare yet.

"Toys “R” Us halted the sale of vinyl baby bibs at its stores nationwide yesterday and offered customers refunds on perhaps more than a million bibs after tests confirmed that at least some of the Chinese-made items are contaminated with lead."

Per Toys R Us and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the bibs are only a safety concern if they are "so worn out that pieces could break off and be ingested."

The tests were paid for by the Center for Environmental Health (CHECA), which was instrumental in pushing for the voluntary recall. The lead level was apparently not high enough to warrant a federal violation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

I don't see how any level of lead in a baby's bib is tolerable. My son goes soaks several bibs a day with his drool, and don't get me started on the chewing. He chews everything and anything he can find. And with his razor-sharp teeth, he's gnawed through more things than I thought possible; I don't see him stopping at vinyl.

So, if you have any vinyl bibs, check the label for Koala Baby, Especially for Baby and Disney Baby labels.

Fisher Price Toy Recall - Dora and Sesame Street

Ugh...another toy recall.

Fisher-Price has voluntarily recalled a slew of popular toys due to possible lead poisoning. Licensed characters such as Elmo, Dora the Explorer, Sponge Bob Squarepants, and Oscar the Grouch are impacted, so if you think you have any of these toys, check out the complete list at U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Thanks to What Works For Us for the info!

Chinese Goods in an American Market

Despite being cautious after so many recalls of Chinese goods recently, I realize there's no way we would be able to eliminate Chinese products without a great deal of hassle or expense. Buying locally raised foods helps keep that concern to a minimum. But besides that, you don't always know what ingredients are in the foods you purchase, as I was reminded by a segment on ABC World News.

They interviewed Sara Bongiorni, author of A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy. She convinced her family to go cold turkey on Chinese goods for a whole year, which meant giving up a lot of conviences and stocking up on Lego for the kids.

I'm not sure that we could do it. We'd probably go a little scatty before long. Though in a strange twist, despite things being more expensive on an individual basis, I'm guessing we might save money because of the limitations on the products we could actually buy. Hmmm...I think I'll start taking a closer look at the "made in ..." sticker to see the viability of this project.

On that note, I wonder where the book was made.

Trader Joe's Onion Recall

I love Trader Joe's. They have such a wonderful selection of food, and they're so much more reasonably priced than Whole Foods or the like. Hence, it pains me when I see a recall there, which I do see every now and then. Today, I saw a flier at the checkout announcing a recall of diced onions because one bag was found to have listeria monocytogenes.

All the packages are printed with a use by date of 6.16.07 and lot number 2017-R. Call (800) 348-2255 for more information.

Ground Beef Recall

And THIS is why I avoid purchasing ground beef. The article is admittedly a few weeks old, but it's more in knowing that it happened at all.

Fresh and frozen ground beef with sell-by dates of April 6 thru April 20th, potentially tainted with the e-coli bacteria, have been recalled. United Food Group shipped the meat which was primarily sold under the Moran’s label at Albertsons stores in California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, as well as a few stores in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. Other brand names the meat was sold under: Miller Meat Company, Stater Brothers, Trader Joes Butcher Shop, Inter-American Products and Basha's.

Even my poor Trader Joe's is on that list :-(

If you think you might have been affected, you might want to check your freezers for any of this product.

Toy Recalls 2007

The NY Times reported that of the 24 toys recalled for safety reasons to date in 2007 in the US, all of them were made in China. The number seems possible since 70-80% of toys sold in the US are actually made in China. In fact, given the soaring number of recalls over the past few years, the article states that "China today is responsible for about 60 percent of the overall product recalls, compared with 36 percent in 2000."

Given the overload in federal systems that oversee quality for this kind of stuff, it seems like consumer groups have been working overtime to pick up the slack.
"The toy industry in the United States is largely self-regulated, as the Consumer Product Safety Commission has only about 100 field investigators and compliance staff nationwide to conduct inspections at ports, warehouses and stores - not only of toys, but all consumer products."

Yikes!!

After some thought, while it seems highly unlikely we'll be able to completely avoid toys made in China, I'll be watching out for their construction. Right now, my son puts everything in his mouth and gnaws...so painted toys are the best to avoid. Going forward, we might consider a something else is best avoided. Hopefully, manufacturing regulations will tighten as Chinese authorities consider the loss of business they face. Consumer dollars, or lack thereof, are the loudest way to express distrust and anger with toy makers.

Are Plastics and Soda toxic?

Toxic substances and Green solutions are certainly popular and controvertial these days. The Huffington Post's Marc Gunter discusses the elimination of toxic substances as reminded by the Thomas the Tank toy recall last week. He details how environmental groups are working to get businesses to reduce or eliminate certain toxins from production and/or their store shelves, including Whole Foods, Walmart, ConAgra, and Johnson and Johnson.

Across the pond, an article in the Independent reports the dangers in soft drinks.
"A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA."
Of course, these are preliminary findings, but it's a reminder that the more chemicals there are in our food/drink supply, the greater the potential for unknown dangers. The EU tends to be much more conservative with things like the food supply than the US, in my opinion. For example, Genetically Modified seems much more controvertial in the EU (banned in several countries), but the jury still seems out in the US.

If it's not toys, it's make-up, or soda. There's always something to be concerned about it seems, and it's hard to keep up with the "dangers" our society presents. Though I sometimes feel like an alarmist, I prefer to be well informed about potential dangers and then take it all with a grain of salt. One study isn't going to stop me from doing anything, but a few might slow me down. These days, I try to avoid plastic containers for food and drinks, and I've decided that fewer well-made wooden toys are safer for my son than a lot of cheap plastic ones made in China.

Thomas the Tank Toys Recalled

We were eying some Thomas the Tank toys this past weekend. Glad we resisted, if only this one time. ABC news reported the most recent China exports to be recalled are the Thomas & Friends wooden railway toys.

For more details and a comprehensive of the toys recalled, click here

AMO recalls contact lens solution

I've been wearing soft contact lenses for nearly 10 years, and I couldn't think of giving them up. There's so convenient and my vision coverage is so much better than with my glasses (i.e., peripheral vision). That said, I'm always a bit concerned when I hear about a contact lens solution recall. Most recently, Advanced Medical Optics Inc. (AMO) recalled Complete MoisturePlus contact lens citing infection risk, which is unfortunately the solution I use. CNN Money reported that "The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) interviewed 46 patients with Acanthamoeba keratitis, a rare but serious cornea infection, and found that of the 39 who wore soft contact lenses, 21 used Complete MoisturePlus." And just last year, Bausch & Lomb's ReNu with MoistureLoc was recalled after it was linked to keratitis.
I'm a numbers sort of person, so this data isn't enough to make me stop wearing my lenses, but I'll keep my eyes peeled for new studies and data.