When it comes to toys for MrMan, I'm sometimes a bit leery of things with paint. It's not neccessarily that I'm fearful that they've been dipped in lead paint, which my child will then ingest, and turn into a cretin. I just wonder if maybe the paint will flake or scrape off. And, to me, ingestion of paint, regardless of its content, is not a good thing. (Though there are definitely some paints that are worse to eat than others.) And a toy with a crappy-looking paint job is ugly ;)
Every once in a while, though, I buy him a toy that's painted. It's hard not to do, if you want to buy your child any toys. With Mattel's recent recall, I scrolled through the numerous items, looking for something familiar. I found two. So, now I have a dilemma. We have a Sesame Street Shape Sorter and an Elmo Collectible. (There is something so very ironic about the fact that these toys market a show with a reputation for teaching, but that the toys themselves are delivering a substance that interferes with the learning process.) However, both were bought before May 1, 2007. But I wonder, what system-wide event happened on May 1, that can make them (and me) certain that our toys are free of lead paint? On the other hand, if I'm willing to throw out these two toys - two toys that he doesn't even play with that much - without any evidence that they have lead paint, should I also throw out his press 'n' go one-of-Thomas'-friends train? It wasn't part of the Thomas recall, but.... Where does one stop, if you're choosing to start? Maybe what I should start is stopping the purchase of any painted toys. Then I don't have to scurry to any websites when there's talk of lead paint. And by virtue of the fact that I'm severely limiting what we can buy, there will, eventually, be fewer toys to trip over.
Posted by Shokufeh at August 2, 2007 04:12 PM