The company blog mostly sticks to company news, but our family was personally touched by this important issue, I want to write by thoughts and I’ll try hard to be brief.

Like many parents, I am feeling very leery of “made in China” lately. It seems as though the recalls are coming down like an avalanche and I wonder if people had ever bothered to test our toys until now. My skeptical self thinks they didn’t just start contaminating them, but that this must have gone on very long under the radar and we only know now because it’s in the news, and companies are feeling pressure to start testing and recalling, both from customers and from their legal counsel. That’s my inner dialog, anyway.

I loved the 11/2 Mormon mommy Wars thread on this topic. It got out lots of good information, and it highlighted the questions that conscientious parents everywhere are asking now. Is this brand safe? Are contaminated toys actually dangerous? If we parents turned out fine, aren’t our kids fine too? Are the European toys durable enough to be worth it?

Here’s my take.

One of my children actually has tested toxic for 3 heavy metals, and so we’ve been rather involved in trying to figure out why that is, and meeting with other parents and Drs who are working to learn more. Our case doesn’t have a simple answer- we have NOT owned any recalled toys and we have no obvious exposures in our environmental history. Presently we are looking for genetic differences, such as an inability to metabolize and reject the toxins that we all encounter in modern life. I don’t worry about his toys, I worry about the times he teethed on my key chain, on my cell phone, or even maybe the pesticides on our food or the dyes on his Made in China pillowcase or WalMart sippy cups. I wonder about when we lived right next to the freeway or how I got amalgam fillings while still nursing him. My message to parents is to NOT live in fear of any of these things, because you can’t possibly live a life escaping every one, and it may be years before science proves which things actually harmed us and which prove safe.

Buy the nicer toys. They feel better, they last years longer, you know you’re supporting fair labor. And keep your babies from chewing on batteries. But what I’m trying to say is, don’t get superstitious, don’t toss out every plastic toy and replace it with USA or European toys and sigh in relief that your child is saved. It’s not clear yet, and in my mind the one part that is clear is that there needs to be more testing and responsibility among the importing companies, who seem to have been totally asleep at the wheel. Let’s speak out for higher standards. As they see we consumers care, they will have to rise to meet standards of safety, environmentalism, or worker conditions. There, that’s my message- don’t panic about what you already own, but do be conscious of who your purchases support from now on. The issue is on the minds of parents and producers everywhere.