Made in China

Of course, everyone has heard about the recent recalls of children's toys that were made in China. I checked the list and made absolutely sure none of them were in my house. I was fairly shocked at the number of baby toys on the list - primarily Sesame Street toys, of which I have a few. Thankfully, my son had not been sucking off the lead paint on any of the recalled toys because we didn't have any in the house.

Last night, I was doing a little shopping for some friends and thought I might buy a little toy for my son, just because. I happened to be at Marshall's and the store had tons of toys available for his age. I thought to myself, "Just to be on the safe side, I am going to purchase a toy that was not made in China." So, I started searching all of the boxes for the "Made in _____" label.

Made in China
Made in China
Made in China
Made in China
Made in China
Made in China
Made in China

Every toy I picked up said "Made in China" on the box. I was shocked. I knew a lot of toys were made in China, but I never stopped to look to see how many toys. And, also to my surprise, the brand name or cost of the toy didn't change where it was made. Even the pricier toys from brands like Baby Einstein, Infantino, Chicco, Melissa & Doug, Lamaze, and Child's Play were made in China. Fine, I thought, I'll just buy him a new book. Again, they were all either made in China, assembled in China, or printed in China. I walked out of the store without purchasing a single toy or book.

After I got home, I went through the toys we currently own and found the same thing - most of them had been made in China. Sure, I have a few toys that were made in Germany, Sweden, England, and the United States, but the vast majority were made in China.

I admit that I am a little bit stumped as to what to do in this situation. The news reports said that Mattel is one of the most vigilant product testers in the toy industry (at least among those that have their toys made in China) and this is part of the reason they are recalling so many toys - they actually test them. Many manufacturers are not as good at thorough testing. So, what about all the toys in my house that are not made by Mattel but were made in China?

I heard a story on NPR about a month ago about a mother who decided her family would not purchase anything made in China for 12 months. She talked about the difficulties of making even simply purchases, like a pair of new shoes. I thought it was an interesting experiment but didn't realize how difficult it would actually be. I'm not sure I am ready to take the step of banning all purchases from China, but checking the labels on items I purchase has certainly risen to the forefront of my mind.

Part of my reluctance is that I am not characteristically one of "those" mothers who are crazy-overprotective about germs, small bumps and bruises, little accidents, non-organic food, or all natural clothes. I have my rules, but I am not rigid about them. Another part of my reluctance is the "slippery-slope" argument. Where does it end? What if I remove all the toys made in China? What about the toys made in Malaysia? Vietnam? Korea? Bulgaria? China is certainly not the only country that has produced hazardous products, even if they are in the news most often lately.

I can't live my life being afraid of every possible illness or injury that could befall myself or my son. I can do what I can - baby proof my home, be watchful of him in other places, and check the recall list frequently.