Do you remember the day?

For every generation there is an iconic day. For my husband it is the day of the moon walk. He remembers watching it in his house in Cuba as a 4 year old. I can see him sitting watching on that old TV looking very much the way Boyo looks but probably with a better tan.



But for me, my iconic day is Sept. 11, 2001. And like everyone else today I think back to where I was when I heard. I was 8 months pregnant working at Catholic University in Washington DC. Hubby was home on sabbatical watching the talking heads on CNN. He called me at work and told me about the first plane. Honestly my first thought was "What a terrible accident, I wonder what was wrong with the plane?" Followed by a brief prayer to protect the people and that there wasn't a child care center in the building. When hubby called back a little while later, he said there was a second accident, and still confused (like many women with a baby in their belly- my mind worked oddly) I thought, "Guess that pilot shouldn't have been rubber-necking the other crash." Then hubby said it was terrorism and he was coming to get me.



By the time the towers fell and cell service was cut, the University gathered in the main hall with the priests and there was a prayer service going on. All of the staff and I were in the balcony watching and praying when a call came into the receptionist desk. It was hubby and he was downstairs.



It is a terrible feeling seeing the destruction of hate while holding a new life in your belly. On one hand there is terror but the other hand is hope. Can I protect this baby? What will his life be like? Will he grow to be an adult or will hate cut him down like so many others? Or will my child make the difference? Will he find a way to solve these problems? Will he grow up as a protector to the people he loves?



Two years later when September 11th rolled around again, I again held a new life, this time a 7 day old baby girl but my feelings were different. There was still the terror, but it was a more common new baby terror. But with the strides our country had made in only 2 years I was hopeful. I knew my daughter would have a good chance, I prayed that neither of my children would ever be touched by hate. And as a sat feeding Girlie, I remember marvelling at the loss so many had felt and the pride at what had been accomplished since then.



Now 8 years later, I still pray for those families. That they have found peace, that all the mothers who had newborns or were pregnant with their husbands in the towers have found a way to survive and to thrive. But most of all, I pray that something like this never happens again.

More on Johnny Law- Reprieve

So all that I have fussed about, written my Washington people about and told everyone who has listened about is now being given a reprieve for a year. Yay, Glory and Hallelujah!
Basically everyone who makes stuff for kids has an additional year to get their ducks in a line. This is also to give the small mom-and-pop shops time for their manufacturers an/or suppliers to get their stuff tested and approved. IE curriculum providers will be able to have the ink and paper manufacturers do the testing on the components instead of the mom-and-pop shops being forced to do the testing which would have killed them.

More on Johnny Law

More discussion about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008:

The Homeschool Legal Defense Association has weighed in - Homeschoolers will not be affected too badly by the new law. http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/20091130.asp Basically, used books, toys and clothes are safe to be resold as long as the person selling has the done their best to make sure they are safe. So no selling recalled things. Isn't that just common sense?

Oh but it gets tricky. What if an item was recalled and unknowingly donated. Is the resale shop suppose to check every item against the recall list? The purchase date isn't included when stuff is donated, how would they know? And if it did manage to slip through and was caught or made a child sick, the resale shop is liable. http://www.narts.org/NARTS_CPSC_PR.pdf

Even the libraries are getting involved. The law is written as to be retroactive so all the kid books on the library shelves would have to be pulled and tested. This would be a great expense not to mention think how long it would take the books from all over the country to filter though the 3 (yest there are only 3) testing sites! It would take years. http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=1322

So the libraries have issues, the resellers don't have issues unless they let something slip through. But for people who make things for kids; new things, not resold or used things, there are still issues. Even though as a producer of kid stuff, you try and make sure the buttons are sewn on really well on toys or clothes, that the fabrics and yarn you choose are the best, there is still the need to get your products certified to be safe. As a new seller this would be horribly expensive.

Moms who make kids products (home based businesses mostly) have banded together to file a lawsuit against the testing requirement. http://reformcpsia.org/2009/01/class-action-lawsuit/ The petitioners want the language of the law changed so that it isn't so vague to cover products (like clothes and books) that are not likely to have any lead content anyways.

With a bit of prayer, luck, positive thinking, and writing your congress people, this law could be fixed. Please do your part.

Johnny Law

I am not an alarmist. I try to believe that the people in DC have a clue (yes laugh at me). But this new law that will take effect on FEB 10, 2009 is over the top.

There is a law that is meant to reduce lead in children's products. Sounds good so far, right. It defines children's products as anything made for use by a person under 12 years of age. So think about that for a minute. That is pencils, notebooks, desks, stuffed animals, clothes, BOOKS, science kits, the list is endless. The only things given an exemption are electronic devices.

Now I agree there should not need worrisome amounts of lead in things that kids will eat, and I see the reasoning on jewelry or tea sets. We all know that they go in kids' mouths. But what kid over 5 really still eats paper? And who lets their little one ruin books and eat them to the point where the small amount of lead that could be in the pigments in the ink would make them sick. I think the paper would make them sick first.

Anyway here is the law- in pdf http://www.cpsc.gov/cpsia.pdf Page 7 is where it gets interesting.

Here is a blog that explains this better than I ever could Learning at his feet

And here is one bit of good news. Before today, this law applied to consignment and used clothing and toys. Now re-sell stores are exempt.

This law, as written, will do terrible things to the small business community. Many mom-and-pop shops will be forced to close. I urge you to write to your people in Washington. Tell them that this is a bad idea for the economy.