Christmas is coming what you buying your kids this year?

Fisher Price and Mattel toys manufactured in China, containing lead base paint and who knows what else? I plan on making my gifts out of domestically produced materials. At least I'll be assured they don't lead to any infringement on their health. Kids might not get the latest game consoles or be considered the hippest on their block, but at least I won't accidentally be poisoning them. I may rehab a couple of old bikes. Do kids even ride bikes anymore? I never see them out riding anymore.

 

Well, my kid is grown, but I have to admit, my grandson is getting a Wii. He's a great kid and the only thing he's interested in getting, really, is video games. He's 14, so it's hard to come up with much that can be made for that age group-especially boys.

 

Jesus, you guys can afford to shell out 400.00 gifts to kids? I recieved one bicycle while I was growing up on my twelve birthday. It was no where near that expensive and was meant to last me until I learned to drive and bought my own car.

What do you give them when they are eighteen? A house?

 

My bike cost $25.00 second hand. It was a blue Schwin single speed. At sixteen I got a party. For Graduation I got a 25.00 Timex watch. I don't think the look on those kid's faces are priceless, I think their folks have paid plenty for them, perhaps even a second mortage.

 

I can. If you give to much to easily you set expectations to high. What happens the next year when the economy tanks and mom and dad can't buy them a wide screen tv for their bedroom?

 

By your logic if you could afford to feed your kid cake and candy all the time you would, but would it be good for them?

 

Back to my original question though what are folks going to do to insure they aren't purchasing toxic toys this year?

 

I take it that this is what gardener is suggesting, but "the best" is being defined in different terms.

I was thinking about getting some handmade in the USA with no toxic material toys.

The thing about my kids (5 and 3 years old) is that they spend the most time outside playing with sticks, nuts, leaves, mud and anything else out there they can find. This is great and I hope it continues. While I would like to give them a "big Christmas" it seems silly to spend a lot getting lots of things that are going to be ignored soon afterward. They already have a big toy box whose contents wind up on the floor after only being looked at for a few seconds. I think kids get too much stuff these days.

 

Yeah-I can afford $400 for a kid's Christmas gift. It's already bought and stashed, actually. I have one child and one grandchild, and that's where my effort goes. DH, too, of course, but at our age, we really have all the "stuff" we need.

Like I said, he's a great kid and really not at all materialistic. He likes computers and video games, so that's about all he actually wants. New clothes? Na. He wears the same, relatively inexpensive stuff all the time. Fancy shoes? He'd rather have Chucks and wear them ragged.

He's kind to everyone and everything. He's the kid sticking up for the underdog. I've actually never seen him angry. I'd do ANYTHING for that kid.

Oh, and I got him a book, too.

 

UH, ah ..........another round of tax cuts ? ! ?

 

This is kind of where I wanted to see the discussion going. I was interested in the alternatives to Chinese import toys.

It's pretty scary since the outing of the halloween teeth things that are laced with lead that no one had noticed and were currently being sold to our kids this year. And they are supposed to put them in their mouths. How do you plan on being safe? Maybe buying high priced tech toys is the way to go?

 

Our boys are still young, 3.5 and 1.5 years old. We are very fortunate to recieve alot of second hand clothes and toys, and when the toys are in good shape, we save them for christmas gifts.

So far we have Second hand :

Toy drum set
4 wheeler
books
Dvd's
computer game

They dont know the difference that its not brand new from a box... its new for Them! And thats always fun!

Stocking stuffers are going to be play food, and we will buy them something special that we know they would like (not more than $30 tho!) we dont spend too much... they get enough from their grandparents and God knows we dont need more toys in the house!

Im sure this will all change when they get older... but for now it works

 

Careful with the play food, and the secondhand toys Earth Girl, they may be coated with lead base paints. Even if they aren't on the original recall list, more and more items are being added all the time.

And now we are being told the home lead testing kits aren't accurate. I wish there was a central public agency where we could take things to be tested.

When you consider that even PlaySchool toys have been implicated it's scary. PlaySchool used be a symbol of safe toys for little kids.

 

I just checked out the recall pages.... Pretty scary stuff.


Imagine buying your children wood toys because its 'healthier' than plastic, yet they are still painted with lead based paint.

Last year I tried to make my own felt play food... by hand.. the eggs turned out great... kinda lost interest with the bacon tho!

 

Presumably toy retailers will be forced to be more careful when it comes to who manufactures their toys, but avoiding the made in China labels might help, as would boycotting the offending retailers like Toys Are Us, Mattel, and Fischer Price ('course that doesn't leave you with much). There are also books you can buy to educate yourself (I found one online called "Safe Toys Now"), and lead paint test kits, all of which require an investment of time and money, but don't we have government agencies that are supposed to protect us from this stuff?

And do kids even go outside anymore?

 

A lot of good that does when the people running the agencies use to work for the offending corporations.

 

Exactly. We do, but they're not doing their job. Apparently, they're under staffed and under funded

 

No need to buy things for people to show them you love them.

 

The spirit of buying and the spirit of giving are two seperate things.

I agree with you, you dont have to buy something to show someone you love them, but if you offer them a token of your love with something you made yourself, it is way more meaningful.

I was thinking of making all the moms in my life homemade bread in a latte cup, along with some homemade pepper jelly (it will be my first attempt in making it!) with some tea and a book.

I also found a neat recipe using chocolate molds and oreo cookies that make the Oreos look really fancy...

But Im definatly torn when it comes to my kids....