Is it against the law to have a little common sense?

Just the other day, I marveled at the obvious keen intelligence of my friends’ baby as he lay on the carpet of their den, playing with toys. He is only 9 months old, but he was able to reach up and spin the wheel on one toy, making it light up as it emitted all sorts of cool sounds. The plastic toy is shaped sort of like a globe, and the part that spins in the center of the globe. The infant had to learn which part of the globe to move, to get the toy to sound off. I was so, so impressed. Then he head butted the toy and tried to stuff it in his mouth. It wouldn’t fit, but I cut him some slack. I still believe he is exceptionally intelligent. But, he is a baby. That is what they do!
As I was thinking about this this morning and thinking how funny and cute … I turned on CNN for the morning news.

Some kids are smart … and some, not so much …

There was a report in the news today that a couple is suing the makers of a children’s toy, after one of their children swallowed more than 20 round magnets – all pieces of the same toy. My first thought was “bad toy maker.” Then I thought, “What sort of parents allow an infant to play with lifesaver-size magnets at all, much less without parental supervision?” I mean … I am assuming there was no supervision. It wasn’t like the child downed one or two quickly as the parents fought over the remote. The kid sat and mowed down almost two dozen pieces of metal. Talk about roughage. Dang. That’s about the unit count of a full bag of peanut M&Ms by my tally.
OH … well you know what happens to us when we assume! I assumed there were no parents around … who knows. But, I also assumed this was an infant – who will try to eat just about anything (as my young colleague demonstrated, cited in paragraph one.)

Get this. CNN interviewed the little girl. She was about 10 years old.

And her quote … PRICELESS!

“Well … they looked like candy! That’s why I ate them,” she said, beaming a big toothless smile.

Now why am I also guessing this sweet-toothed little girls’ parents must not unwrap her Hershey’s kisses for her. Maybe she developed a taste for metal in that way. And I can just hear the parents, at some point in the future. “Yep, we gotta buy Missy some new braces. She done finished the other set.”

Ooh, I wonder if magnets have a tendency to stick to the braces as you are eating?

So anyway … this little girl’s insides look like a pinball machine. (They showed the x-rays on TV.)

And of course, whose fault is this? Of course. It is the toy manufacture’s fault. They should have realized 10-year-old girls will devour can goods and cans. Ooh again … I wonder if the doctors placed a bigger, stronger magnet up to the girl’s ribs. Depending on polarity, as you may recall from your childhood science adventures, half of the magnets probably would jump over to the side of the stomach closest to the big magnet. Conversely, about half of the magnets would be repelled. Can you imagine?

But, don’t think I am being cold. I am very concerned and heard that the little girl is going to be okay, in addition to quite rich.

Now I am scratchin my head … wondering why I didn’t put more iron in my diet for fun and profit.