don't get me started ... uh oh, too late

[wasabi_poptart]

Toys for Tots's heart is in the right place, but I realized today that according to its policy it does not accept any gifts that are handmade or handcrafted.

I think this is bad policy for a number of reasons:

1. It promotes commercialism by privileging disposable, manufactured crap over quality, handmade items.

2. It inculcates commercial values onto children by refusing to distribute anything other than factory sealed, brand-new merchandise.

3. It discourages creativity, both for the sender and for the child.

4. It reinforces the conviction that the holidays are about shopping, not about giving.

Shall I go on?

Comments

[delqc.livejournal.com]

Yeah.... I kind of agree. Sad as it is, there is no control policy for knowing whether or not handmade things are safe for babies. Mathilda has a knit doll that we gave her thinking it was fine, and she hadn't even had it 5 min before she was ripping it's "hair" out (the hair was just knitted eyelash type yarn) and EATING it. And we, her knowledgeable awareness, had checked that thing over!

Commercially available toys have to pass safety standards and n be recalled if someone discovers a problem, so they don't have this problem, KWIM?

Also: recipients of these gifts overall tend to be a less-educated, less-aware demographic of society, and less able to catch these kinds of problems....

Beautiful safe homemade gifts are DA BOMB but unfortunately there is a lot of room for bad judgement and if Toys for Tots got sued because they gave a kid a handmade gift and the kid choked on a glued-on button eyeball, Toys for Tots would be out of business permanently.

[delqc.livejournal.com]

And when I said I kind of agreed, I meant I agreed with the disagree above. Sigh. Brain, work, please.

[brcmapgirl.livejournal.com]

It's definitely a safety issue. TfT cannot afford to be sued for distributing an unsafe toy. You know in that very cynical way that there is someone just waiting to sue them for endangering their kid.

Plus needy kids have such low self-esteem that they're looking for a lift with a shiny new toy to say that they are just as deserving as any other kid. It's kind of hard to say that to yourself when your toy is beat-up, your clothes are shabby, out of date from Goodwill. They know.

(Which is not to say your sock monkeys are awful. They are wonderful!! Have you talked to Daisyfields about stuffed bears? I know Lorraine at A Good Yarn had done some donations for them.)