It must be genetic

(and no, I'm not talking about my family's crazy genes which inherently, are, in fact, genetic.)

On vacation, Charlie started noticing where things are made. Invariably, things are made in China. For some reason, known only to himself, this bothered my little man. He grew quite frustrated trying to find something that was not made in China.

Unfortunately, this morning I was listening to the radio and there was a detailed story about all of the recent troubles with things made in China - the drugs killing people in Africa and Haiti, Thomas the Tank toys, the toothpaste. And then came the nice little factoid that 80% of all toys made in the US are made in China and that all of the recalled toys thus far this year have been from China. That did it. From the backseat came the pronouncement "I don't want any more stuff from China." I gently reminded him that almost all toys come from China. "Then I don't want anyone to buy me any more toys." I asked what he would do if he discovers his gameboy is made in China. Silence for a few seconds. "I guess it's a good thing we lost the charger." The kid's mind is made up.

I have very fond memories of my first boycott - Nestle (still holding firm on that one, mostly, as much as I can track it anymore.) The day I discovered the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I should have had a clue that Charlie would lean toward those sensibilities. I once explained to him why we don't buy gas at Exxon unless we truly don't have another choice and he actually yelled at me the one time I didn't think I had any other choice because we were running on fumes. Told me I should have thought ahead. He was right of course.

On the one hand, I am proud that we have succeeded in raising a child who is already leaning towards social consciousness, that the idea that you have to think about other people and the environment is as much a part of him as the air he breathes. On the other hand, I already see the telltale signs of anxiety and worry that I struggle with every minute of every day. Its a good thing, then, that we haven't yet tried to explain to him the ideas about living wages and working conditions and child labor because for sure, I think it might push him over the edge.

On a very similar note, this whole thing with China and the drugs and wheat has really got me thinking. We can't track this stuff effectively anymore. We don't truly have any idea where our food or drugs or sundries are coming from or what we're actually buying. We put an enormous amount of trust in the major corporations because for sure, there is no regulatory system watching out for us anymore. I can't believe how much I've taken it for granted; I try to buy healthy and I think of myself as a conscious consumer but as I look at information on my snack crackers, I realize it doesn't say a thing about where they came from. More and more (and more and more) I am realizing that the responsible thing to do is to go completely organic like my parents despite the outrageous costs and inconvenience. I laughed at my mom last week about her organic shampoo and conditioner. Seems laughable until you think about it. If there is poison in the toothpaste and in the dogfood, why wouldn't there be poison in the shampoo?

I think we're capable of a lot of self-delusion. Or at least a lot of just not really thinking about things that we don't want to think about. Of saying things are ridiculous when we really just mean that they are inconvenient. The fact is that I think I've been lazy. Or careless at least. My kids and our health are worth more than the attention I've been paying.