recall

so mattel announced another toy recall because some of its toys have dangerous parts. but there's a whole other batch of toys that are being recalled because they're made with lead paint.
um. ok. talk about a problem i thought we'd solved, like, 20 years ago.
speaking of toys that should be recalled, tayloe's (little tayloe) uncle geoff gave him an up-up elmo for his birthday. geoff's the guy that gave us the 'my balls are magical' toy and the rolling, talking ball that says 'i'm over here!' when you've been ignoring it for too long.
determined to outdo himself, he delivered elmo with a smile. only much to our delight, t2 hates it. i mean really hates it. he turns and crawls away from it whenever he sees it. and if it starts talking ('elmo wants up-up, up-up elmo,') t2 starts crying. it's even worse if i start playing with it. he'll try to smack it out of my hands, tears streaming down his face as if to say, 'don't do it mommy! it's a bad toy! can't you tell? can't you ... (cry, cry, cry) ... can't you (cry, cry, cry, cry) ... can't you tell it's EVIL???' it's the saddest thing ever.
so i did elmo a favor and put him in 'storage' in a ziplock bag under t2's crib. only i didn't hide him well enough because t2 found him. elmo came alive from the grave, crying 'up, up, elmo wants up up' (i mean, why can't he at least say please?) through the plastic bag. and that was pretty much it for t2. he had a complete meltdown.
as a side note, this kid melts down about very little. last week a balloon popped in his face (he bit it, of course) and he laughed.
anyway, he melted down crying and crying and crying. i took elmo out and tried to show him it was ok, that i hadn't buried him alive, that he was only 'resting' in the plastic bag, but t2 wanted nothing of it. he whacked elmo so hard i dropped the thing on the floor. it fell with a thud and then said, 'thank you' in its stupid elmo voice.
so elmo and his red polyesther 'fur' and his googly eyes and his bad manners are banished to the man room outside.
if he survives that, which i very seriously doubt, i have my own ideas about what to do with him ...