Natural Pod: A Safe Choice

More recalls in the news this week. My nerves are just about shot with all of this "Made in China" nonsense. As a mother of a toddler, it's my responsibility to educate myself on what she's got in her precious little hands. I've just been sick about all of these recalls, considering quite a few of her toys are from Fisher Price and "made in China". My husband and I have seriously contemplated just throwing everything out. Why don't we then? We're trying to remain calm and just make conscious decisions on the toys we buy from now on.

Thankfully, we found a company by the name of "Natural Pod" out of Vancouver. Natural Pod owners, Bridgitte and her husband are parents of two and make very well sure that their little ones are playing with safe toys. Are you going to pay a little bit more for these natural or wooden toys? Maybe in some cases but you have to ask yourself what is more important, a ton of flashy plastic toys in toy box that may be hazardous to your child's health or a few good quality toys that they will be just as happy with? I think I'll go with the obvious decision here.

If you take a look at Natural Pod's website, you'll see they have natural products ranging from the baby stages to school-age children. For instance, they have this fun wool fruit you see pictured to the left. An interesting texture for your baby to touch and soft enough for your toddler to toss around.

They also carry adorable natural baby dolls. Hailey has a pouchy doll that she totes around all over the place. Little girl's LOVE baby dolls, especially soft ones like the pouchy dolls. These dolls are filled with wool. Did you know that wool is naturally an anti-bacterial?

Wooden cars and trucks for the boys, clothing, bikes and musical instruments. Natural Pod has a huge selection of items and you can rest assure that there are no harmful ingredients in their products.



So, let's get back to the basics, shall we? We here at MTW really want to raise awareness about lead paint and these unsafe, exported children's toys and we'd love to involve you.

We are giving away a $100 gift certificate to Natural Pod's online store.

To enter this contest, here are the steps you need to take:

1. Leave us a comment on this post with your contact information (i.e. email address) so we can contact you if you win.

If you'd like to, go ahead and leave your thoughts and feelings on the recent toy recalls. We will compile all of your comments and submit them to the FDA (under Docket 2009N-0330) to be taken to a meeting held by the Bush Administration on October 1st. We need to be heard and they are giving us this opportunity, so let's take advantage. If you'd rather not, that's fine too, you can still enter, we'll just leave your comment out.

If you'd like to link up to this contest on your site, here are a couple of button codes for you:


























This contest will end on Wednesday, September 19th at 10:00pm CST.

Good luck!

Come Play in the Sandbox!


Want in on a secret? I've found the coolest t-shirts this side of the swings...Sandbox Threads! Andy is the Stay-At-Home-Dad genius that is behind the funkiest duds out there. You'll basically find any and every design you're looking for here in the Sandbox, if you're pop-culture junkies like we are. He's got famous faces, including my all-time favorite, Wonder Woman, retro toys and ads, rock n' roll, cheekiness, activism, and pretty much anything else you can imagine. I dare you to come away from this store empty handed!

You get to select the color, style, size, and design color of your shirt, so chances are, it's going to be practically one of a kind! There's lots of styles, colors, and sizes to choose from too. Sizes range from infant to 6T, so you'll be shopping here for years! The shirts are quality too...the one you see on Noel here, is a nice, thick 100% cotton shirt, made sweat-shop free.

When you buy something from Sandbox Threads
-AT 15% OFF WHEN YOU USE THE COUPON CODE "MUMS15"-
be sure to tell them that the Mums in Black sent ya! Happy shopping...you'll wish they came in adult sizes!