Mother Complains About Happy Meal Toy

[MJS]

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-mcdonalds-toy-0727-20100726,0,1669353.story

A scary evening for a 4-year-old Ledyard boy and his mother has led to a federal investigation of a consumer complaint alleging that a toy in a McDonald's Happy Meal poses a safety risk for children.

Jerry Farrell, commissioner of the state Department of Consumer Protection, said Monday that the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission has agreed to review Ledyard resident Maze Stephan's complaint about "The Last Airbender Katara" figurine and bracelet that came with her son's Happy Meal last month. McDonald's Corp. was using the toy, depicting a figure from "The Last Airbender" feature film, in its Happy Meals as part of a promotion, which ended July 22.

Thoughts?

 

[girlbug2]

My thought is that a recall for a happy meal toy is going to yield very few returns. It won't do much good, if any.

 

[MJS]

My thought is that a recall for a happy meal toy is going to yield very few returns. It won't do much good, if any.

I was thinking the same thing. You know, when I was growing up, my sister and I were into Star Wars. We had pretty much everything...the vehicles, the figures, complete with their guns, etc. Not once did we ever put anything into our mouth. We didn't choke on anything, we didn't wrap anything around our neck.

I dont know.....is it the norm for kids to put things in their mouth, around their neck, etc? I never did any of that when I was a kid. There may be more to the story than it appears, but on the surface it sounds to me like this woman needs to pay more attn. to her child. I mean, if this kid choked on the fries in the happy meal, would she sue because the fries are too big, or would it be a case of her not paying attn. to her child while they were eating?

 

[CanuckMA]

Read the comments with the story. The first one is right on the money. The kid put a bracelet around his neck.

Sometimes, Darwin is just right.

 

[Nomad]

Trying to make something idiot-proof invariably underestimates the ingenuity of idiots.

Bring back lawndarts! And let Darwinism take care of the results

 

[Andy Moynihan]

Seems to me a mother raising a 4 year old kid on Happy Meals ain't exactly genius material either........:idunno:

 

[CanuckMA]

Buying a Happy Meal is not indicative of bad parenting.

 

[MA-Caver]

Because of the Happy Meal, McDonalds became the #1 seller of Mattel toys after it was first introduced. Soon they all switched to the "made in China" label type and movie tie-in's which make for HUGE sellers. It's doubtful that with this one woman's "hot coffee" complaint is going to do anything to thwart that.

Parents need to examine toys to see if there are loose parts and then keep at least a watchful eye on their kids for the first few times they play with it (i.e. at the restaurant, enroute home, at home, etc.) to ensure that the kid isn't going to do anything stupid like try and swallow it or even mouth it. A simple "don't put that in your mouth" when they try SHOULD suffice, I mean geez at 4 years old they're either going to listen or they're not. It depends upon how well you raised them to obey you from 12 months to 48 months.

As someone pointed out... tragic as it may be (and as cold hearted as it may sound) ... Darwinism will eventually win out to those it applies to.

 

[Andy Moynihan]

Buying a Happy Meal is not indicative of bad parenting.

Maybe not, but getting a 4 year old kid started on that kind of food and getting him into that habit at 4 years old sure's hell not indicative of good parenting either.

 

[Spartigus]

The happy meal food is more likely to do damage to kids than the toys. If that lady is so concerned about safety, why is she taking her kid to mcdonalds.

EDIT:
Granted i enjoy mcdonalds in moderation, and its fine to eat that sort of thing in moderation. But that lady looks like she eats way too much junk food, and she most likely makes her kid eat it too. She should be more concerned about what food she is feeding her son.

 

[adamx]

Maybe not, but getting a 4 year old kid started on that kind of food and getting him into that habit at 4 years old sure's hell not indicative of good parenting either.

I agree somewhat. We do not know how often they go. But I see nothing wrong with going to get your child a happy meal once in a while.

 

[girlbug2]

Let's give the lady the benefit of the doubt that she was planning on raising her kids on a habit of happy meals. I didn't read anything in the article that said it was a habit, or that they had even been to mcdonald's before that.

 

[Haakon]

I was thinking the same thing. You know, when I was growing up, my sister and I were into Star Wars. We had pretty much everything...the vehicles, the figures, complete with their guns, etc. Not once did we ever put anything into our mouth. We didn't choke on anything, we didn't wrap anything around our neck.

Ah, but the original Boba Fett action figure in the early 80's was recalled because of having small pieces (rocket from his backpack) that children could swallow. After the recall they made it without a removable rocket.

I dont know.....is it the norm for kids to put things in their mouth, around their neck, etc? I never did any of that when I was a kid. There may be more to the story than it appears, but on the surface it sounds to me like this woman needs to pay more attn. to her child. I mean, if this kid choked on the fries in the happy meal, would she sue because the fries are too big, or would it be a case of her not paying attn. to her child while they were eating?

It's normal/very common for young children to put things in their mouths, you probably did too when you were 3 or 4 years old. I don't think it warrants a toy recall though, I would bet there are plenty of small things around this womans house her child can (and does) put in their mouth or around their neck.

Some people seem to think you can make the world 100% safe when it just isn't going to happen.

 

[Bruno@MT]

Maybe not, but getting a 4 year old kid started on that kind of food and getting him into that habit at 4 years old sure's hell not indicative of good parenting either.

While I agree with you that it is not good food, going to McD once a year and buying them a happy meal is not automatically bad parenting. Feeding a kid on candy floss is not healthy either, but giving them a candy floss during the annual fun fair is something different.

 

[Carol]

Read the comments with the story. The first one is right on the money. The kid put a bracelet around his neck.

Sometimes, Darwin is just right.

Agree completely...and the comment is dead-on. She's after money.

This woman is so persistent with her follow-up, it makes me wonder if there is something akin to Munchausen by proxy going on.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/sick/munchausen.html


What if she harmed the kid, or encouraged/ignored the harmful behaviour...until the kid got in to real trouble? Like most Munchausen victims, the kid is probably too young to "tell" on his mother.

And she's now manipulating the scenario for personal gain, perhaps?

Call me pessimistic, or just plain dark...but I don't think that scenario is out of the question.

 

[MJS]

Ah, but the original Boba Fett action figure in the early 80's was recalled because of having small pieces (rocket from his backpack) that children could swallow. After the recall they made it without a removable rocket.

I'm not disputing that something may've been recalled, something had small parts that could be detatched, etc. I'm simply saying that my sister and I grew up playing with these things, and we're both still alive and well.

It's normal/very common for young children to put things in their mouths, you probably did too when you were 3 or 4 years old. I don't think it warrants a toy recall though, I would bet there are plenty of small things around this womans house her child can (and does) put in their mouth or around their neck.

Some people seem to think you can make the world 100% safe when it just isn't going to happen.

I agree with what you said about the recall. I mean if we really think about it, a child could put a penny in his mouth. Is the US going to stop making money? I doubt it.

I probably did put or attempt to put things in my mouth, but again, I'm here to talk about it. My mother kept her eye on me. I mean, when you have kids, thats what you need to do, no? How many times have we heard about people leaving the bathroom for just a second, with child in tub, and they drown? I was on msnbc the other day and read about an autistic kid that was left in a hot car and died. How the **** do you forget about someone in a car????

 

[MJS]

The happy meal food is more likely to do damage to kids than the toys. If that lady is so concerned about safety, why is she taking her kid to mcdonalds.

EDIT:
Granted i enjoy mcdonalds in moderation, and its fine to eat that sort of thing in moderation. But that lady looks like she eats way too much junk food, and she most likely makes her kid eat it too. She should be more concerned about what food she is feeding her son.

QFT!! I was thinking the same thing.

 

[chaos1551]

In another 50 years, we will have the craziest warning labels due to law suits. We'll have "NOT INTENDED TO BE WRAPPED AROUND ANY BODY PART" on licorice rope. We'll have "DO NOT EAT" stamped on anything that isn't edible and even some things that are. Embossed in the steering wheels of cars will be a warning: "DRIVING A VEHICLE CAUSES YOU TO MOVE AT A POTENTIALLY HIGH RATE OF SPEED AND CAN BE DANGEROUS". We'll have tattoos on our private parts. We'll have to sign a waiver to walk into a place of business. We'll spend so much money on this crap that rich people will have to go on food stamps.

Mark my words.

 

[Steve]

I think we're all a little more cavalier and callous about things like this when it's not our kid. I think about kids who died from swallowing magnets and crap like that and I just shudder to think that the child could have been mine. I consider myself a pretty good parent, but I don't watch Lily every waking moment. She's too fast... like a baby ninja. There's a period of time between ages 2 and 5 when kids are mobile, curious, have no real sense of danger and are very creative. You just can't anticipate every which way that they can injure themselves.

For what it's worth, I had many toys in the 70's and early 80's that were eventually recalled. I remember my Battlestar Galactica ships shot little projectiles. These were eventually recalled as a choking hazard. Chewbacca's ammo belt was recalled from the 12" doll, as was, IIRC, Luke's belt.

Personally, we'll get the kids a happy meal sometimes as a treat, but I personally ask them to hold the toy. They're cheap, don't really do anything and we just don't need the clutter at the house. We eat fast food every once in a blue moon, but at 2 years old, Lily eats pretty much what we eat. So, if we splurge at McDs, so does she.

It's funny to me when people talk about how dangerous things were in the old days and how "we survived just fine." Of course we did. The dead kids aren't around to tell these stories. I hear the same tired speech whenever people talk about seatbelt laws for minors and discussions about recess and school sports.

Edit: Since no one else has responded since I posted this, I'll just edit this rather than add another one. I want to be clear that I'm all for personal accountability. In this particular case, we'd have to ban pretty much all hard bracelets to keep this kid safe, which is clearly ridiculous. Mom should have been watching her kid, and while I'm glad the boy's okay, this wasn't a toy that any reasonable person would consider dangerous.

What bothers me is the ease with which people suggest that "Darwin" take over. I mean, we are talking about an actual kid here and several posters in this thread have made it pretty clear that they think it would be a good thing if this kid had died. I have a problem with that.

I also think that it's a little specious to attack the messenger by going after the Mom. Whether she's fat or not, healthy or not, or feeds her child sugar frosted sugar for dinner nightly is irrelevant to the topic at hand.

 

[teekin]

Steve, if this Mom can't handle a fairly harmless toy from McD's what the hell is she going to do when the Child goes to School in the real world?????Say one of Carol's schools where the teachers don't give a rats *** about weather her child ever learns to read for comprehension or not? Whos going to take her seriously now??? What would this mom do on a farm where there are real dangers like 50Gal. barrels of Round-Up and moving grain augers???
Some battles need to be fought, but this particular one????

Lori