It feels like a day doesn’t go by without another alert of lead or other dangerous toxins being found in the toys our children play with and gnaw on when they’re toddlers. At first, I figured our family was pretty safe from the suspect toys coming to light since our daughter, at age seven, is way past the chewing on plastic phase.

But even Halloween costumes weren’t safe this year. Wouldn’t you know that this was the time that PunditGirl wanted to be a scary pirate, complete with the yucky rubber teeth.

We were fortunate that she’d only had the scary chompers in her mouth for a few minutes before deciding they were more trouble than they were worth. But one of the boys in our neighborhood has been playing with his own set of pretend rubber teeth since this summer. The family’s pediatrician said they should bring him in right away to test his lead levels. I haven’t heard back what the results were, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

There’s been a lot of talk from the toy manufacturers about how concerned they are with our children’s safety. And, hey, after all — the government is out there to make sure they toe the line, right?

Well, uh, I’m not sure how to break this to you, but apparently there is only one full-time toy inspector at the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the federal agency whose job it is to make sure that the toys our children play with don’t do this or this.

We’re not even safe from Curious George. If this doesn’t fall into the ‘I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore’ category, then I don’t know what does.

So, if the toy manufacturers don’t really care and the government may as well not even be involved, what’s a parent to do?

The Consumer’s Union is trying to put the power to keep our children safe from dangerous toys into our own hands. Head on over there to their site and sign up for the Safe Shopper campaign. Retailers depend on us, as parents, to help them meet their year end revenue goals by adding the latest toys to our children’s stash, no matter which winter holiday we celebrate. They really want us to spend our money on their toys. If we stop giving them our money, maybe they’ll pay some more attention. Plus, we have some maternal super-heroes who are leading the way to help us stay focused on some much-needed parental activism!

Bottom line — this is about greed. Toy companies not spending the money to make sure manufacturers are complying with safety standards. Agencies not using resources to keep our children safe when “inspecting” the toys they play with. Lots of people thinking that funds are better spent on other things — like corporate salaries and benefits.

I’m not saying anyone is out there purposely trying to harm our children with their playthings like Irwin Mainway and his infamous Bag O’ Glass and Johnny Switchblade, but sins of omission can be just as deadly.

Where is Consumer Probe when you need it?