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A few things that can be found in our craft box

We have a craft box at our house.  I came up with the idea because I was tired of our kiddy crafts being all over the house (Play-Doh being in one closet and the crayons hidden sporadically around the house.)  So, I bought one of those large, plastic, see-through bins to keep all of our kid crafts in.  It's kind of nice really--pulling out the craft box every so often and getting creative with my children.  Usually The Cheese and I get it out while The Monkey has his nap.  Our crafts are nothing fancy--we string beads on fuzzy pipe cleaners and make pictures out of construction paper and foam shapes.  Our favorite is the Play-Doh, which involves two large Ziplock baggies of plastic cookie cutters that I bought at a garage sale.  It's a good, messy time that I enjoy along with my children.

I just never imagined that our craft box would turn so deadly.

I had bought the now recalled Aqua Dots as a stocking stuffer for The Cheese for Christmas.  The Cheese had a similar toy that included tiny plastic beads that when ironed stick together.  I had seen one of the many commercials for the Aqua Dots and noticed how similar they were to The Cheese's bead toy; instead with this toy all you had to do was spray a little water over the beads for them to stick.  Great! I thought.  No more dragging out the hot iron.  Anything that requires less effort from Mama has got to be a good thing.

Well, apparently when the water is sprayed on the Aqua Dots it activates a toxic chemical--the "date rape" drug.   

I pride myself on buying toys that require my children to use their imaginations.  We don't own a lot of toys that make noise and require a ton of batteries.  My children's toys bins are filled with things like wooden blocks, Legos, and enough books to keep them reading until college.  For a while there, I was scared that The Monkey's prized Thomas trains were tainted with lead paint.  Now I have to worry that our craft box is filled with drugs that might put them into a coma.

Are you kidding me? 

What's up with China and why do they hate our children?  Or I guess I should say, why does China have no regard for the well being of any child?  I'm not one to get all wound up about things.  I mean, toys are recalled all the time.  But this is getting ridiculous.  It's getting to the point that no matter if a toy was recalled or not, if it's made in China it's going in the trash.

I can only imagine what the parents of the children who have gotten sick from the Aqua Dots must be feeling.  Just like I did, I'm sure these parents saw the Aqua Dots on the store shelves and thought, "That looks fun," and bought some without a second thought.  How I hurt for those parents and count myself lucky that we aren't one of them.    

With Christmas coming, now I'll be worried about every toy under the tree potentially being harmful to my child.  Heaven help me if they recall Legos or anything Buzz Lightyear.  My children would be heartbroken if that happened.  But if it did, I would do the same thing that I did with the Aqua Dots today--return them to the store without a moment's hesitation.  Better to suffer a little disappointment than "unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death."

Guess I'll have to put a new sign on our craft box that reads, "Craft Box--Open at your own risk."