I started subscribing to an email alert from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in the hopes of finding out about products I have in my home.  If they are not safe then there is no way I want them around.  I don’t know if I would even bother with taking them back for a refund….I would just want them out of the reach of my children. 

I looked at a recent email I got and it was a recall for toy garden rakes sold in home improvement and toy stores nationwide.  It listed on the email the name of the product “Backyard and Beyond Garden Tools”.  I don’t know about you but I never save the tags from the toys I buy for my kids.  I mean if it’s a toy like a Fisher Price farmhouse or something that is immediately recognizable, then yes I would be able to identify it in the event of a recall. 

But how many times do we pick something up quick for our children?  Say you’re at the store buying something for yourself and see a cute display of sunglasses for your daughter?  Do you remember the name on them, or when you bought them, or even when you got them?  I can’t remember every single thing I’ve picked up for my kids, let alone what the name on the tags were!

So I guess it’s coming down to a point where parents are going to need to write down what they buy for their children, when they buy it, what the name on the tags were and what store you purchased them at.  But is this really feasible?  How many parents have the time or the energy to do this?  How many times are you at Wal-Mart or Target with your kids and pick up something to amuse them?  Would I remember to note all the information before ripping the tags off it at the exit to prevent the inevitable crying for the new toy?

Have we, as Americans, gotten to a place where the cost of a toy is more important than the safety of our children?  Are we so consumer goods oriented and materialistic that we need to buy everything for our children, and since we must have everything we must get them at a good price?  I’m really not sure what all the toy recalls say about us as a group.  Is it the fault of the manufacturers or is it our fault, demanding everything for our kids, not willing to pay a lot of money?  Or is it that we are teaching our children the wrong values at an early age – sure honey, you can have everything you want as long as it’s cheap.

I know this is a rambling post, but the last email I got has really caused me to think.  If you are interested in signing up for the recall notices from the CPSC, you can go to their web site and select what alerts you want to receive.