Okay I wanted to write a blog post several times this last week. I have a lot to talk about. However life, as it has a tendency of doing, got in the way.
Last week I spent much of my free time trying to figure out ways to immerse Max and Nathaniel in German. After all everyone says that is the best way to learn something. I don’t see us moving to Germany or any german speaking country anytime soon so in loo of that, I thought “Why not get a german speaking toy for the boys!” I thought this would be simple as I saw on a recent survey that German is the third most popular language spoken in the US. Boy was I wrong! I looked on Amazon (as you can find nearly anything there) and nothing. So then I went to Amazon.de (Amazon Germany). They had plenty of common toys in German. So I contacted Mattel (who makes many of these toys) and they said they can’t sell any of them to me. I found this odd as I am sure they were made in China like most of their other toys. So then I went to a toy store that I have known has foreign toys. I was looking for a children’s dictionary in German but I couldn’t even find that. Frustrated I asked someone and learned the sorted details of the problem!
A couple of years ago a law was passed because of the toys that were harming children coming out of China (I think… could have been elsewhere but I seem to remember it was China). That law was going to make it so everything MARKETED to children and sold in this country would have to undergo special testing to make sure it is safe. This testing would cost $100,000 to do, for each item. I remember it was a big deal because at the time I was buying diapers from work at home moms who make diapers (obviously for children) and they would have to close if this law went through. Well eventually they got exempted because they don’t produce $1 million worth of diapers in a year, let alone a month or whatever. However the rest of the law went through. This law also makes it so if a toy is deemed safe by the Japanese or the EU, that doesn’t count. It has to be deemed safe by AMERICANS. Okay, whatever. I know. However the net effect of this law is that small toys that have niche markets (like toys made for small populations in the US but have larger markets overseas) can’t be sold in this country. Essentially limiting the choice of anyone who purchases toys in this country.
I know what you are thinking at this point, “Then why not purchase the toys from Amazon.de and be done with it!” That sounds good and even with the mark up and the wonderful (roll my eyes here) VAT tax that they have over there, the toys are not THAT bad of a price considering. However in this law is also a provision that if anyone knowingly purchases a toy from overseas to get around this law, they are potentially subject to loosing the product at customs, the seller getting a huge fine and the purchaser getting a fine of $3500. The ONLY way they will allow people to get around this law is to go to the country where the toy is and carry it back in their suitcase! The toys are identical to the toys sold here in the US only they have different words and a different sound recording, but that isn’t good enough. Here is an example: German toy and the American toy Now aside from the price and the words and the recording, there is nothing different about these toys. Yet one is illegal to bring into the US for resale.
Okay off my soap box now. I am unsure what I will be doing other then i-tunes does have some wonderful German children’s songs so I might go with that for now. I can’t find any german TV that Max will like though. 🙁
Last weekend we had fun going to an Amish market and Flea market. It sort of reminded me of South of the Border. If you have never driven down I-95 then you likely don’t know about South of the Border. I have linked to their website if you are curious. However it is somewhere that I hear is cheesy and touristy and with how many times I have passed it you would have though I would have stopped at least once and no I haven’t. However this market seemed to have the same style. Tony and I liked the other Amish market better (that we went to with my mom and step father) so I don’t think we will go again. We got a smoked bone for Fenway at this market but sadly Fenway liked it too well and after a day decided to purge his stomach of the bone repeatedly. Good idea, poor execution. We got some sausage that we liked and there was a german/polish market there that was sort of cool but that was about it. I think most of the stuff we could have got at the other Amish market at the end of the day.
Sunday I woke up and I had mastitis. I am not one to normally admit that I am ill (as I think that some how if I don’t admit to it, my body will not actually get sick but I had it). So I spent Sunday after church and most of the day Monday trying not to be in pain and trying to get Nathaniel to help me get better. I told myself that I would call the doctor on Tuesday if I didn’t feel better. Well Tuesday came and I started to feel better so there was that idea!
Max and Tony had fun though. They played with the RC truck, picked strawberries, built a weather vane, and just generally had good father son time. We smoked a brisket on Monday that was very good. Tuesday we went and picked snap peas and got our first real pickup from the farm. Yesterday Nathaniel had an immunization and the doctor said he is “happy” with Nathaniel’s growth! YAY!! Today we have German school.
Gee I almost buried the lead! Last Thursday Max and I were doing school work and suddenly we heard a BOOM and the power went out. It had been thundering and lightening that day so I thought maybe a transformer had been hit by lightening though it wasn’t raining out. After I made sure everyone was okay, I went to the front door and opened it (not the screen door). I saw a puff of smoke coming from between 2 houses. A short while later the firemen were on a neighboring street. Curious and not seeing any foul weather I got the kids and walked down to see what I could see. At this point I was wondering if it was an accident that knocked out the power. The fireman was confused. He didn’t see anything that would knock out power to our area. Finally I mentioned to him the small puff of smoke I saw and directed him to where it came from. He went over there, talked to the woman whose land it mostly was and then came back to me. Turns out a squirrel had bit or something to the power line (they routinely walk on them) and had got fried. The boom was the squirrel feeling the effects of Edison and the smoke I saw was the after effects of such revelation! 3 hours later we had power back.
Well that is all for now! Here are some photos from this week!
Max playing with Nathaniel as he gets a bath.
Max eating bacon at the Amish market.
Nathaniel sleeping in his stroller at the Amish market.
Nathaniel after eating a nut/grain/dairy/soy free chocolate donut.