How We Avoid Toys 'R' Us

The idea for change in America that I was most pulling for, about fully funding Medicaid waivers for the developmentally disabled, was not one of the winning ideas, but did get over 2500 votes. Being in the education business----and watching my work inbox fill with messages from students after I sent around word about a scholarship they can apply for---I'm definitely behind one of the winning ideas, Pass the DREAM Act - Support Higher Education for All Students.

Another idea I'm behind is Save Small Business From the CPSIA, which is a proposal from the Handmade Toy Alliance. The proposal calls for an amendment to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008 which "bans lead and phthalates in children's products, mandates third party testing and certification, and requires manufacturers of all goods for children under the age of 12, to permanently label each item with a date and batch number." This is definitely all for the good, but the problem is, those who make handmade toys, clothes, and the like for children---vs. large retailers that outsource the manufacture of their products to China----could be drive out of business due to the costs of mandatory testing ($4000 and up):

Anyone who produces or sells any of the following new or used items will be required to comply with the law: toys, books, clothing, art, educational supplies, materials for the learning disabled, bicycles, and more. Any uncertified item intended for children under the age of 12 will be considered contraband after February 10, 2009. It will be illegal to sell or give these items away to charities, and the government will require their destruction or permanent disposal, resulting in millions of tons of unnecessary waste, and placing an enormous strain on our landfills.

My son Charlie is getting too old for toys but we still have a few that he cherishes, like the wooden waves and rainbow in the photo above. He's always been drawn to wooden toys----blocks and puzzles---in bright, basic colors---Legos were never big in our house. There's been no place more toxic to Charlie than Toys 'R' Us ---- a big, frenetic, vertigo-inducing chaos where Charlie inevitably found his way to the DVD section, looking anxious and wary; we usually left empty-handed, relieved for the quiet confines of the car. It was long ago that I resorted to catalogue and internet shopping to find him playthings and sensory-soothing squeeze balls and the like.

Even though, when you're buying something on the internet, it can feel like you're sending your credit card number out in space and who knows what could get charged to you, it's happened more often that I've gotten a personal communication from the person who's made the item, and who seems sometimes a bit surprised, but certainly appreciative, to know about how a few colored blocks of wood can mean so much in our household. Charlie has strong likings for a very few things, and it's good to know where they came from and who made them.

May we never have to go to Toys 'R' Us again.