As the mother of three young children, it should come as no surprise that I’m worried about toy safety. But, you may be surprised to hear that lead-paint-tainted toys (made in China) do not top my list of safety concerns this holiday season. Instead, I am most fearful of the must-have toys my older boys covet…Lego Star Wars sets with their hundreds of tiny pieces. Or the minute weapons that are included with many action figures. I also fret about the small “player” pieces in any of my sons’ board games.

I am most concerned about these items because I also have toddler that picks up everything on the floor…and then puts it in his mouth. Nevertheless, I bring or will bring all of these toys into my home and take a chance or make a leap of faith. Call me crazy or call me naïve, but I truly believe that parents have a responsibility to “police” our own homes and keep our children safe from dangerous toys.

To that end, I do my best to keep all of my older sons’ toys out of reach of my younger son. I routinely put all small pieces into carefully labeled Ziploc bags. Any non-essential tiny winy pieces are thrown out when the toy is opened. I have also done my utmost to keep violent video games out of my household. I will try to do that for as long as possible because even though I fear choking hazards…I fear early exposure to gratuitous violence even more.