Mini Hiatus

I will be back and blogging in the next couple of days. Life has been a little crazy with all the back to school stuff and getting use to the new schedule.
Best of luck to all of you gearing up for the new school year as well!

What's in Your Shopping Cart?

It's that time again,back to school shopping! I usually love shopping but this year it was just too much! I think everyone had the same idea as C and I. We went to the uniform shop, busy. We went to Target, busy. As we were almost done at Target I remembered that C needed a "dressy" pair of shoes and my little niece needed a birthday present. Being that my niece is 3 I knew there was a good chance that some of her favorite things had been recalled.Which in turn reminded me that I am trying my darnest to boycott China. I was looking for My Little Ponies and some of her other favorites. None were to be found. They were recalled, I suppose. Then I remembered I had promised her Playdough. When she was over 2 weeks ago she and G had played with it and she loved it! I had told her next time I saw her I would bring her some. So I was off to find the Playdough. We found it. I figured it was there because it wasn't made in China. WRONG! Playdough is made in china?! Yup. Did I give in? Yes. Why? I made a promise and I couldn't find any substitutes. After that my guilt ridden self took C to the Target shoe section. All I could find were made in china shoes! I'm not saying ALL of Targets shoes are made in China, but all of the ones in her size and of the dressy persuasions were! Geez! I was tired from shopping but determined not to give in again, so I asked C if we could go to Once Upon a Child and see if they had loafers or something there. She was fine with that. (Thank God!) I don't have alot of time to shop and run around for shoes, but I figure if the item is second hand I can live guilt free, right?

After are shopping I was exhausted. It was a while before I decided to unload our days purchases. As I was unloading it dawned on me to look and see where everything had come from. This is what I found:

Made in China

• Body Loofah


• Foohy Erasers


• Crayola flash cards


• Rose Art Washable Markers


• Elmars Glue


• Target Bandages


• 2 Piggy Banks from the dollar bin


• Starpoint Tinkerbell folder


• Focus folder


• Sweet Art folder


• Maybe it's time,inc folder


• AND the big heart breaker......High School Musical Folder

Made in USA or else where

• Cotton Cotton balls, USA


• PaperMate pens, Mexico


• PaperMate pencils, USA


• Bic pens, Mexico


• Crayola Colored Pencils, Brazil


• Crayola Crayons, USA


• Color Sharp highlighters, USA


• Target Disinfecting Wipes (their answer to Clorox wipes), USA


• Method aroma spray, USA


• School Uniforms, USA


• Norcom construction paper, note books, and loose leaf paper, Mexico


• Fruit of the Loom tank tops, El Salvador


• Hanes crew socks, USA

As you have seen from my list, not all of Crayola's products are manufactured in the same country. I found this to be true with several companies. I'm sure there are many more. Target's Circo brand, for instance, had blue knee socks made in China. Circo also had similar socks that were made in Mexico and the United States.

As I have fully realized,from today's adventures, boycotting China is not easy. However it is necessary. The companies of the USA and China have to see that we know what goes into Made in China and we care about what goes into Made in China. I am willing to read labels and do the best I can to stop buying Chinese manufactured products.

Lastly, I have to comment that buying Chinese manufactured products isn't always cheaper. Many of the competing products out there are BOTH made in china. I picked up 2 packages of undershirts. One was Fruit of the Loom the other was some Target off brand. The off brand wasn't in it's rightful place, so I decided to take both packages to the scan station to see how much it was. Turns out the off brand was a dollar more expensive for the same about of undershirts and the off brand was Made in China. I suddenly had two good reasons to go with Fruit of the Loom.

Another Recall ?!

Mommyzabs from http://www.mommyzabs.com/ has recently started a new site. While she will still be blogging on mommyzabs.com, she now has a site devoted to a cause she is passionate about. Her new "baby" is http://www.notchinamade.net/. It is a blog devoted to exposing the harsh reality that is the oppressive communist regime of The Peoples Republic of China. She explores and uncovers their harsh treatment of their own people and their lax business practices. It is a site that answers the question "is cheaper really better?".

We, as a people, can no longer think what China does is its own business and it doesn't effect us. We have seen in the last 9months how much China does effect us right down to our home lives. We kicked off the year with the menu foods pet food recalls that spanned from Walmart dog food to Eukenuba. Then we had the Thomas the Train lead paint recall. This week we entered into not only another toy recall but we are also having a toothpaste recall!

If this causes you to ask your self,"What in the heck is going on over there?" Then click on the notchinamade button and go find out!

What do you do?

What do you do when it suddenly dawns on you that a family member has changed and not for the good? What do you do when you don't recognize who they are anymore? What do you do when you are concerned about their health and well being? What do you do when it is the proverbial "damned if you do and damned if you don't." What do you do? These are some of the things that are weighing on me currently and I don't have any answers for any of them.

Things My Kids Love

I don't know about you, but I have a picky eater. C isn't really a picky eater. She'll try most things and then we have her brother.... G has Sensory Processing Disorder, lactose intolerance and is allergic to citrus. We've been told because of his Sensory Disorder that he doesn't like alot of texture when it comes to clothes, food, the world. I don't know how much I believe about the food thing, but I do what I can to get him to eat healthfully. Having him eat healthy can be a challenge. I have to make sure the food he eats doesn't contain any citrus or dairy. (Although he can have cheese.) I am continuously reading labels. One of the things I was bummed to find was that he couldn't eat anymore was applesauce. Almost all brands of applesauce have cornsyrup and citric acid. If they don't have cornsyrup they still have citric acid. G adores applesauce so this label find was a real bummer. A couple of months ago I came across the greatest thing, Mott's Healthy Harvest. They are snack size applesauce by Motts. They come in blueberry, granny smith apple, country berry, summer strawberry, and peach melba. They are all made with all natural fruit. G loves the blueberry the best. He thinks it is pudding because it is a similar color to his sisters pudding cups. :) He also favors the strawberry and the peach. I love it when I find a win-win food item!

A Gymboree Gift Card Contest @ Shakadoo!

The ladies at Shakadoo have a really neat site and a really neat contest. Shakadoo is a site that has "Everything to do with your Shak." They have info on home decorating, kids,home improvements (currently with a tool give away!),gardening, electronics, and a section for if you work from home. To top off how fun the site is,they are having a contest for a $250 Gymboree back to school gift card! All you have to do it sign up by posting under the Gymboree post by posting, then post on your own blog about their post. Then you are officially entered!
Even if you don't want to enter the contest I recommend the site,it really is informative.

Shakadoo is at http://shakadoo.com/ , and may the luckiest mom win!