Oh Those Fabulous Toys!

I have two birthdays coming up here, so I've got toys on my mind. Baby B will be 1 in a few days!! A year flies by so fast! And D will be 3 the first week of Sept!

My mom called the other day to say she sent out B's b-day package, and I conned her into telling me what everyone got her. I really wanted to get her that little people doll house (she really had a blast playing with it at my sister's house). I was going to start looking on eBay to see if I could find one. But grandma got it for her! I can't wait :) Poor B doesn't really have too many toys that are hers. I have bought her a thing or two here and there, but D has so many toys that she's pretty content playing with his. And she is playing with his outgrown toys, so there's really not much point in buying her a lot of toys. Of course there are things that they fight over - such as the treasured little people school bus. But the coolest thing is that my mom and sister found a *pink* little people school bus! They knew that D had one, and almost didn't get the pink one for B, but then decided to go ahead and get it. I'm so glad they did because I bust up fights over that school bus all day!

A few months ago we were visiting my sister A and she had these really cool nesting fabric boxes that were decorated as presents. B loved them, so I went to Target to try to find something similar for baby B. I didn't find anything, but I noticed they had this whole aisle of "Word World" toys! D loves "Word World" so I was really wanting to get him one of the toys (I must admit that it is one of my favorites on PBS). They had some really great things, like puzzles, and the animals (that are spelled out in letters) that come apart. But a very good percentage of the toys (all of them that would have appealed to D) have those little magnets in them! I can't believe that companies are still using them!! Those little magnets are the reason that a lot of toys have been recalled. Granted in the animal letter toys they were sewn into the fabric, but still there's a chance that a child could get them out.

When B was a few months old we bought these tag along chime toys from Infantino. After we got them home we realized that they had magnets in the straps to keep them attached to the car seat or stroller. We strapped one to her bouncer while we cut the magnets out of the other one and slapped some velcro on it. Before we got to the second one she had gotten it off her bouncer and was chewing on the strap right where the magnet was! I was really mad that these were still on the shelves. I can guess that it wouldn't have taken too long to chew through the seams or the fabric and get that magnet out.

A few months later I stumbled upon an article online that talked about how some stores (especially Wal-Mart) have a habit of leaving recalled toys on their shelves. I guess it's perfectly legal in some states (Parents Magazine had a list of these states in their Feb or Mar issue, but of course I can't find it online!). I wish I could find that article. I originally found it on the League of Maternal Justice site, but I've been hunting around for it there and haven't been able to find it! Go figure. Anyway... just because a toy (or bib or bottle) has been recalled doesn't mean you can't buy it on the shelves of your local store or on eBay... I just know that I will never buy toys with magnets that could even remotely potentially come out.