Jennifer Triplett

A few months ago, I had to take some of my children's favorite toys away from them. The kids hadn't done anything wrong; but the companies that made the toys had.

In their quest to make more money, many companies have sent their manufacturing overseas, to countries like China.

It is ridiculous how many toys have been recalled in the last year because they contain lead paint. Lead paint has been known to cause brain damage in children. As a parent, it's my job to make sure that anything I give my children won't harm them. And quite frankly, I've lost my faith in companies' ability to "safety test" their products that are made overseas.

So I've resolved to do a better job of seeking out products made in the U.S. If an item was manufactured here, I can be fairly certain that U.S. safety standards have been followed. And if they haven't, I know that U.S. regulators are more likely to fine errant companies and force them to do things right.

Buying things that are made here also helps me make an economic and environmental impact. My "friends and neighbors" get to have decent jobs and because the goods don't travel as far, less fuel is used to get them to me.

There's one little problem with my new goal: finding toys and clothes made in the U.S. is hard to do.

Now if I were to scour the Internet and dozens of specialty shops, my luck might be slightly better. But as a working mom, I just don't have time to do that. I shop at the mall and at large retail stores.

The sad thing is, it wasn't that long ago that you could find U.S.-made products more readily. When I was a kid, you could walk into Wal-Mart and see signs hanging throughout the store heralding things that were "Proudly Made in the U.S.A." Now you could easily walk out of the store with a buggy full of stuff made on the other side of the planet.

There have been a few bright spots in my searching. According to their Web site, Little Tikes has dozens of different toys that are American-made, as does Step 2. That makes me more likely to buy their products, as I did this Christmas.

When it comes to buying clothes, it seems almost impossible to just walk into a store and buy something manufactured here. Many Hanes socks are made in the U.S. but not all of their products. SAS and New Balance shoes are U.S. made, and some SAS shoes are made here in Arkansas. I've also found that Lucky Brand clothes, which are available at local retailers, are made in the U.S. and they even make children's clothes.

Another problem with trying to buy things made here is that even though the end product may have been manufactured here, its components may not have been. So then the only thing you can do is trust that the "imported parts" were made according to standard, which kind of undermines my whole "buy American" strategy.

I would like to note that this is by no means a complete list of American-made stuff. But as I said earlier, I just don't have the time to do extensive research on everything I buy. I'll admit that I want this to be easy, and why shouldn't it be? Why should consumers have to go to extreme lengths to buy things that won't poison their children, things that weren't made in a sweat shop? I, and I think many others like me, am willing to pay more for American-made goods and the various guarantees that label implies. But we have to be given the option first.