Last vent on obnoxious toys. LOL.

The LeapFrog Tag thingy. I saw them at Wal-Mart and it looks like certain books work with it. I saw the advertisement and thought it was neat until that crazy man in the lizard costume or whatever it is insinuated that books are boring unless they can be used by that talking pen. I cannot figure out how that thing helps kids learn to read as it says it does. It looks to me like that pen reads for them. My 6-year-old is in first grade and they are trying to teach her to read by phonics. So when she and I read together whenever she stumbles across a word I have her try to look at it and sound it out before I will give her an answer and most of the time she can. I think I am just frustrated by that whole industry now anyway because I have had salespeople come to my door basically telling me that my kid is going to be a dumbazz if I don't buy their expensive junk....all the other kids have it and mine will be left out in the cold. I guess I am not giving those electronics a chance. I cannot see what they can do for my child that I cannot.

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With mine, the store-bought toys usually get ignored, while she instead plays happily with the box the toy came in. Strings are pretty much the Numero Uno toys for her. And bags. She spent this morning smugly sitting inside a clear plastic bag that had been a 12-pack of toilet paper, thinking I couldn't see her.

Lately she's developed an huge liking for grocery twist-ties. So recently I began making her "spiders" out of a couple twist-ties twisted together in the middle to form a body, and the ends of the ties are legs. She goes NUTS with these, especially in the kitchen, since they scoot and skitter in a very lifelike manner when she bats them across the linoleum. She also likes to grab the spider and zoom all over the house with it.

Eventually she hides them, and I have to make her another. I'm sure that someday if I ever move, I'll probably discover old twist-tie "spiders" in all sorts of unlikely places.

I came across this blog today on Craigslist: http://www.thechaistory.blogspot.com/

And if you have a dog, it's a must-see. It details what happened to a dog that was severely injured by a dog toy called a "Pimple Ball" made by Four Paws, Inc. The dog ended up losing his tongue, and the pain he had to endure was excruciating.

The dog's owner relates that the Four Paws Co. hasn't owned up to the fact that its toy is dangerous, and he's calling for a international boycott of Four Paws, Inc. After watching his video links of his poor dog's suffering, even though I have cats, I plan to be sure I don't purchase ANYTHING from this company, andhopefully you won't either.

If it is something solid like that, the Drano can't break it up. In our case, it was the toilet when our kids were small with a Petey toy from McDonalds. We tried plungers and eels, and finally took the toilet up, and there it was stuck in the curve of the drain.

First, try a plunger and see if you can get it to break loose. Yes it will kind of make a mess, and I recommend the 2.00 trip to Walmart to use a sanitary new plunger! If that will not do it, try taking the trap off (the u-shaped piece of pipe). Most pipes these days are plastic PVC so it should be pretty easy to loosen the fittings. VERY, VERY IMPORTANT! Shut both the hot and cold water valves off under the sink before doing anything!! Yes again speaking from experience! If the water lines come loose during this process, it makes a HUGE mess. Whatever is plugging your sink up is probably trapped in there. Yes it is kind of gross what sticks in your sink, but it is much cheaper (2.00 for the plunger) than calling the plumber. If that still does not work, then call the plumber. The problem may be underground roots from trees near the home or who knows what. Hope this helps.

Sorry I just need to get this out before I explode. I am so mad at my DH right now. I opened my box that he had duct taped all up. I was hoping for something special, well it was a really ugly robe. It is red and has flowers on it. I have never worn red, and don't like flowers on my clothes. Why DH picked something like this is beyond me.

That is all I got, nothing from the kids, nothing else from DH. I just feel like crap. I am so sick and tired of taken second to his stupid cars. He hasn't got a clue why I am ticked at him, the kids are acting like its not a big deal. It just hurts to work so hard on everything and get nothing in return. I got DH everything he wanted, why couldn't I get anything.

I'm sorry I just needed to get that out. After not getting anything all year for any of the holidays or my birthday, I was just hoping that DH would make up for it at Christmas. But I guess I was wrong. I'm always wrong. Now I have to put on a happy face for a bunch of people coming for dinner. I just feel like crawling back into bed and staying there.

I went to register my daughter for school this morning. I was in line to pay for her books when I noticed the man in front of me is listed on our local sexual offender registry for child molestation. He was there to register his daughter for kindergarten. After he left, I made the secretary aware. I came home, looked him up again just to be sure though I thought I was and sure enough, it was him. I called our local police department because I wanted to be sure of the laws. It was my understanding that offenders were to be a certain distance away from public parks, schools, etc. He told me I was correct, though there is a gray area... he was at the school to register his daughter and he is also welcome to attend school functions!!!

Is it just me or is this not concerning??? I told the police officer I can't believe he would be allowed to do this and don't even get me started on the concern I have for that man's daughter!!!! I have this horrible picture in my head of attending one of my daughter's school functions and my son somehow meeting up with this man in the bathroom or something!!! I realize the odds are slim but it still bugs me. I also realize there are many more sexual offenders than listed in the registry and have discussed this openly with my children but it still upsets me!!

My 8-year-old daughter was bit by a dog a few months ago by a neighbor's dog. The bite has healed, but the emotional scars haven't. My daughter is now absolutely terrified of dogs, and cats now, too. She won't play outside, except in our backyard and won't ride her bike which she absolutely loved before this incident. Before this incident, we were even planning to get a dog. This is obviously out of the picture now.

Our medical bills totaled over $800 before insurance. We gave them the bill, wanting $800 because we pay for our insurance on a weekly basis, and they shouldn't benefit from that. We thought that was more than fair because of the trauma my daughter suffered.

Well, today, they tried to give us a check for $87! Yes, that's $87! I was so insulted by this, and hurt! All that my daughter went through, they tried to give her an $87 check?!!! They only want to pay our copay!

Well, I typed up a letter and returned their check, informing them we will be contacting an attorney. So, instead of the $800 we wanted, I'm sure they'll have to pay a few extra thousand for pain and suffering, and also for the lost wages because we had to miss work because of this.

Ok, so I need to vent a bit about a friend. Well, I guess now I should say "former" friend. Back in February, my husband and I decided that we wanted to use our tax return to install new hardwood floors in our house. We were talking with our friend about it and she said that her husband was great at installing floors and that he could install them for significantly less than an actual flooring company or other contractor. We asked her about how much he would charge to do this, and she said about $400. We had been quoted $1000 and higher by several flooring companies, so we decided to let him install our floors since it would save us a lot of money.

It took about 4 days to get the floors installed. In fact, my husband helped quite a bit with the install, plus we ordered him lunch every single day he was here working. While our new floors were being done, we were also talking about how we were planning to remodel one of the finished rooms in our basement, which is my husband's office/den. We were planning on hiring someone for this We even already had an appointment scheduled with a company to come give us an estimate the next day. Our friend's husband again said that he could do this significantly less as well. He said that he would charge around $500 to put up new sheet rock and install the new laminate flooring that we had already purchased. We asked him multiple times if he was 100% sure that he could do it for that cheap. He said yes and insisted on doing it. We agreed to this and let him do the work in our basement as well. We paid him a total of $1000 cash for all of his work, which is what he asked for, plus bought him lunch every day and helped him with the labor ourselves.

Well, a few weeks ago our friend started acting very strangely around us. We didn't know what was up and she wasn't telling us. In fact, she started completely ignoring us and not answering our phone calls, text messages, or emails for days. We later found out from her husband that she had been laid off from her job and was too embarassed to tell anyone. She did finally come out and tell us about it after about 2 weeks had gone by.

About a week after she told us about losing her job, we got a phone call from her and she said that we didn't pay her husband enough for the work that he did in the basement, so she wanted us to give HER a check for $300!!! We told her that we had already paid her husband $1000, which is what he quoted us and he had been very happy with that, especially since he really needed the money. We told her that it was simply not in our budget to just give her $300 and basically told her sorry, but no way.

This morning, we woke up to someone banging on our front door and ringing the door bell over and over again, which caused our 2 dogs to start barking like crazy. Both my husband and I work really late hours and we were both sound asleep. In fact, my husband had just done a double shift a the hospital he works at and didn't get home until about 7:30 this morning. We had no idea who it could be, so I got up to answer the door, and there was our friend standing there. I let her in and she said, "I've been banging on the door forever! You're probably just ignorning me because you think I'm here to collect money." I was in total shock. We had been sound asleep and didn't even hear anything until she really started banging hard on the door. She then went on to say how incredibly rude we were and how ridiculous we were being for ignoring her. We weren't even ignoring her! We haven't even heard from her in weeks and she just showed up this morning without even calling first when she KNEW we would most likely be sleeping! I was half asleep and she was ranting on and on about how rude we were being and how she would help us out if we needed money. That let the cat out of the bag right there. The money that she wanted was for HER and NOT for her husband! She was just using him as a cover to get us to give her $300! She then said, "I also need to borrow your Windows Vista CD and I'll be back later for it and expect it to be waiting for me, unless you're going to be ignorant about that and not give it to me." She then stormed out the door and left.

Let that be a lesson to never hire your friends to do work for you!!!! She had been our best friend for about 7 years and now we want nothing to do with her. Sorry this was a bit long, but I needed to vent somewhere!

I am so fustrated. I recently started a custom accessory buiness online. I have a myspace page and a website. I have had the worst luck getting this thing up and running. I mean, I know the economy is bad, but I have had THE WORST luck. I would be happy with just a few orders a month. Nothing. And believe me I have put the website out there. I submitted it to Google, Yahoo, and MSN. THey still haven't posted it yet I don't think. I am at my wit's end. Anybody who has ever submitted a website know how long it takes for them to put it up?

There are others who do similar products as me. They have orders right and left. I cannnot figure it out. And mine are cheaper. I am about ready to throw in the towel. I don't know what else to do. I'm sorry to whine here but gosh I need to vent. There is nothing like putting your all into something and nothing happens.

Millions of toys recalled; contain 'date rape' drug

Two U.S. children went into comas after swallowing Chinese-made Aqua Dots found to contain a chemical that converts into 'date rape' drug when ingested.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Millions of Chinese-made toys have been pulled from shelves in North America and Australia after scientists found they contain a chemical that converts into a powerful date rape drug when ingested. Two children in the United States and three in Australia were hospitalized after swallowing the beads.

With only seven weeks until Christmas, the recall is yet another blow to the toy industry - already bruised by a slew of recalls this past summer.

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Child deaths have prompted FDA hearings on the safety of cold and cough medicines. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen reports

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In the United States, the toy goes by the name Aqua Dots, a highly popular holiday toy distributed by Toronto-based Spin Master Toys. They are called Bindeez in Australia, where they were named toy of the year at an industry function earlier this year.

It could not immediately be learned whether Aqua Dots beads are made in the same factories as the Bindeez product. Both are sold by Australia-based Moose Enterprises.

The toy beads are sold in general merchandise stores and over the Internet for use in arts and crafts projects. They can be arranged into designs and fused together when sprayed with water.

Scientists say a chemical coating on the beads, when ingested, metabolizes into the so-called date rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate. When eaten, the compound - made from common and easily available ingredients - can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.

Naren Gunja from Australia's Poisons Information Center said the drug's effect on children was "quite serious ... and potentially life-threatening."

The recall was announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Wednesday several hours after published reports about the recall in Australia.

Fisher-Price recalls 155,000 toys for choking risk

The two U.S. children who swallowed Aqua Dot beads went into nonresponsive comas, commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said Wednesday afternoon.

In Australia, the toys were ordered off store shelves on Tuesday when officials learned that a 2-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were hospitalized after swallowing the beads. A 19-month-old toddler also was being treated.

The news jolted the toy industry because Aqua Dots has been one of the few bright stars of the toy selling season, which, along with overall retailing, has gotten off to a sluggish start. The item, which had been heavily advertised, had appeared on many toy experts' list of must-have holiday toys, and toy sellers are now in the midst of canceling advertising and scrambling to figure out how to replace it.

Chris Byrne, a New York-based toy consultant, noted that the incidents could have been isolated, and Spin Master may be erring on the side of caution.

"This is something that they could not have foreseen. This is an extremely hot toy. ... It's a little scary," Byrne said.

In a statement, Toys "R" Us Inc., said that it issued on Tuesday a "stop sale" on the entire Spin Master Aqua Dots product line in its North American stores and on its Web site after it learned of the news. "We understand that Spin Master and U.S. regulatory authorities are investigating this product and we have asked Spin Master to fully explain what it believes happened," said the toy seller in a statement.

Meanwhile, a separate recall was announced for 405,000 children's products made in China, most of them toy cars, because of dangerous levels of lead.

The recall includes about 380,000 Pull-Back Action Toy Cars imported by Dollar General Merchandising Inc. of Goodlettsville, Tenn., and 7,500 Dragster and Funny Car toys imported by International Sourcing Ltd. of Springfield, Mo.

Four of the recalled products were imported by Schylling Associates Inc. of Rowley, Mass., including the items Duck Family Collectable Wind-Up Toy, Dizzy Ducks Music Box, "Robot 2000" collectable tin robot and Winnie-the-Pooh Spinning Top. The company recalled another 66,000 spinning tops Aug. 22.

Representatives from Schylling Associates Inc. were not immediately available for comment.

Wednesday's recalls include about 7,200 "Big Red" Wagons imported by Northern Tool & Equipment Co. of Burnsville, Minn. Totaling about 405,700, the recalled children's products all had excessive levels of lead in their surface paint.

Although no illnesses connected to the toy car recall have been reported, lead is toxic if ingested by young children. Children's products found to have more than 0.06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall.

More toys recalled on lead paint hazard

Panel to push for greater U.S. recall power

Relatives can really get on your nerves - one of the reasons we live 500 miles away from my relatives and 750 miles away from my husband's relatives. They're great in small doses, but not as a steady diet.

So I really do understand....but I think it's interesting that you chose a time when you are not in a position to offer to have dinner at your house to object to what is being planned, especially since it is the "usual thing". Obviously, for whatever reason, your MIL and SIL don't like to cook, and your MIL has decided to take the easy way out and do "what we do every time".

Next time family visits, after your renovations are done, why not ask your MIL and SIL to bring a salad, side dish, dessert, whatever? And, as suggested here, there's no reason why you can't have both pizza and KFC. Just because your MIL doesn't want it, that doesn't mean that no one else will. Sometimes you just have to go ahead and do something and not ask for "permission" - especially since your MIL seems (on the basis of this one incident) to be a bit of a control freak. If she says anything to you, you can just say, "I thought it would be nice to have a bit of variety" or "I didn't want to say anything to you, but pizza gives me heartburn" (true in my case

). Whatever works for you.

New year at baseball with kid, new other parents to meet and talk with. I'm talking with this odd mother, taking a head count as to how many grubby little home-schooled children she has: Seven and one more on the way! Husband is there, unemployed, has a paper route. Subsidized housing, welfare, food stamps, and then he tells me the state just gave him a check for $900 to get his car fixed. Are you kidding me?!? Shut the Front Door!

My daughter is in the 1st grade. While in kindergarten her teacher became ill and was out of the classroom more than in it for over a month and then ended up having to leave permanently after being out for 2 months. During this time they had parapros in the classroom but all of the kids in her class got behind because of the inconsistent teaching. Finally in March they split the class up and moved the kids into other classrooms, but by the end of the year each of the 15 kids were behind their peers because of the true instruction time they had missed, through no fault of their own.

Now fast forward to 1st grade. Some of the kids had managed to catch up but others haven't, including my daughter. She is now reading on a level 3 and should be on a level 5 or 6. Math-wise she is way behind as well as her reading level is below normal. She is currently in a classroom with 27 kids and has ADD, but it is very easily managed when she is given tasks in small increments and visual cues to work with (i.e. write math problems for her and she can do them but ask her to do them in her head and she struggles).

My husband & I met with the school yesterday because of the concerns about her being behind and in the student support team meeting, consisting of the school system psychologist, special education teacher, her teacher, principal and vice principal, we were told that they don't have the resources to work with her to meet her needs and that by the No Child Left Behind federal laws they don't have to address her needs individually until she is 6 months to a year behind her peers. Why do they WANT kids to get this behind before helping them? We know she is smart - she has an IQ of 92, but she needs to have the distractions caused by the 26 kids in her classroom removed and they won't do anything about it because all other 1st grade classes have 26 kids, and the only one that doesn't have that many is a class full of kids that are learning English. We are working with her at home but it's ridiculous to send her to school 7 hours a day and then tutor her at home because the teacher won't take 2 minutes to explain instructions on a task to her. I told them that I don't want her to have to go to special education in the future because she's behind and that I'd prefer that a way to get her caught up and kept on level with where she would be should be what the goal is - not wait until she's very behind. Their response was "well over the upcoming Holidays we can send home LOTS of things for you to work on with her."

Home schooling isn't a good option for her and her psychologist has agreed that she needs the classroom interaction with other kids. If it weren't for that I'd home school her in a nannosecond, even if that meant giving up everything outside of my regular work day to educate her.

I've talked to a couple of private schools in the area and one school wasn't really any better, has 1 teacher per 20 kids in 1st grade. The other school could take her and has currently 5 kids per teacher for 1st grade with good test results . It's ridiculous that we're being forced to consider paying for private school because the public schools don't care.

I'm sure others have run into these same type of situations. What did you do - continue working with the public schools, turn to home schooling or private school?