The Stay at Home Mother

Fool me once, shame on you - fool me twice, shame on me. As a parent, I refuse to sit back and wait for the next big recall to happen without doing something about it.

Here are some tips that we can do as parents that will allow us to be more proactive with toys instead of reactive to the disturbing number of toy recalls that are on the rise in Canada...

Things a parent can do:

• Do an audit on your child’s toys. In addition to any recalled toys - get rid of all the really cheap toys (paid $1 for- received in a loot bag, etc) or are chipping or have parts coming loose. Remember - smaller companies cannot afford to do a big recall.

• When buying a toy – make sure it is age appropriate and keep it in a separate area, if there are smaller children at home.

• Is it made in China? Read the label. And ask youself if this toy is really necessary to purchase right now?

• Start looking at locally made toys. Name brands used to mean something – now it doesn’t.

• Send off an email to our health minister and our prime minister to voice your concerns as a parent. Tony Clement Minister_Ministre@hc-sc.gc.ca and Prime Minister Stephen Harper pm@pm.gc.ca. Don’t waste any more time with the toy companies – all say they can’t guarantee it won’t happen again.

• Visit Health Canada’s website http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/and watch for the next consultation for the public to get involved on the safety standards for our children – they need to do a review of the Hazardous Products Act. (The Act is to protect the health and safety of consumers by prohibiting or regulating the sale, advertising or import of hazardous or potentially hazardous consumer products).

• Visit the Consumer Product Recall list on Health Canada’s website – keep up to date on the latest recalls. http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/advisories-avis/child-enfant/index_e.html

• There are other alternatives to commercialized toys like card games, encouraging use of their imagination, getting them outside to play and simply taking an active part in our child's playtime.

Do you have ideas that have been proactive instead of reactive to the recalls? I invite you to share it with us and help other parents discover alternatives to commercialized toys.