Little plastic things

Since early on in Big O's life, I've been concerned about plastic. Before all the hubbub about whether or not baby bottles or reusable water bottles were leaching BPA, I was worried about what I'd read regarding the off-gassing done by plastics.

I was continually dismayed at how difficult, and expensive, it was to find baby items and toys that were not made of plastic. I wasn't worried enough to ask that gifts not be clunky plastic toys (not to mention that most of the clunky plastic toys are also battery operated noisy toys). So, during his first couple of years, Big O received many a gift and hand-me-down that was plastic. I actually felt better somehow about the hand-me-downs - perhaps they'd already done most of their off-gassing before entering our home?. . .

Lately, the Os seem to be accruing a large number of tiny, plastic, cheap party favor-like toys and it's been very hard for me to watch. I could just not let them bring these things home, but generally they are cherished rewards for finding Joe-Joe the monkey at the grocery store or treasured gifts from our wonderful dentist who always wants to make the boys feel very special, and that puts Mom in a very difficult position. If I tell them they cannot have these things, it takes away from their conquest at the store or their special relationship with the dentist. So, I try to minimize the number of items we bring home (e.g., at the grocery store, I explain that the limit is one per child).

Eliminating these things from our home is actually not so hard. Most of the time, something breaks or otherwise compromises the toy and it gets thrown out. Sometimes, however, I aid in the disappearance of some of these toys when their presence becomes too concentrated in our house.

When I help in the disappearance, the item generally gets relegated to the garage and placed in a box full of toys we will be giving away. Many times, I even question the giving away part - if I don't want my child playing with this junk, should I really pass these along to other children? I realize that not everyone (not many?) are as concerned as I ,and perhaps I'm overly concerned, so I'd rather see these things be enjoyed by someone and have a second life than to go straight to the landfill. Actually, I'd rather they never have been made, but I don't suppose the demand for these little toxic cheapies will go away any time soon.

Now, if only I could find a wooden remote control car (with wooden, solar powered remote, of course). . .