I’m still hoping to see some grown-up films now that a bunch of promising ones are in theaters. I did see Michael Clayton a few weeks ago and was thoroughly impressed by George Clooney’s performance and the careful craftsmanship of writer/director Tony Gilroy. But my family managed to cram in two movies on this Thanksgiving day. One was the new Walt Disney picture, Enchanted, which is hugely entertaining. This fairy tale satire, with its mix of live action and 2-D animation, really does hit its marks with all age levels. Amy Adams is luminous and pitch perfect as a the princess who lands in New York City. After a good turkey dinner with family, we all piled into my sister- and brother-in-laws living room to watch Ratatouille. Writer/director Brad Bird, who also made The Incredibles and the under-appreciated Iron Giant, is fast becoming one of the masters of modern film. This movie has more realistic emotion and storytelling texture than 99% of the live-action flicks being made. Funny, gorgeous to look at, and positively delectable.

It was one thing when my mother-in-law phoned to tell us that she would be coming by to take the Aqua Dots toy she had given our middle son for his birthday. But when my nine-year-old’s buddy Alex called our house to let us know that Aqua Dot toys had been recalled (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/08/toy.recall/index.html)because they put two kids in a coma, I hit the floor and scoured the house for all those little balls that managed to get loose. Over the course of the day, news spread around the world that two U.S. children fell unconscious after swallowing the Aqua Dot beads. Both boys have recovered fully from their comas. Reports say the reason for the children’s severe reaction is that the craft toy — which my kids loved — is made with a chemical coating that, once metabolized, converts into GHB, commonly referred to as the “date rape” drug.

It’s terrifying to think that our children could be victims of their playthings and it makes me and any sane parent angry that manufacturers can be so clueless or purposely ignorant to the potential harms of chemicals used to produce toys. The fact that Aqua Dots are made in China, making it the latest Chinese-made toy to be recalled, is worrysome. Still, the reality is that countless toys are made in China, and have been manufactured there for decades, so we should not assume that all Chinese-made toys are unsafe. Yet we must demand that our own government apply pressure to ensure the products are checked in China AND checked again in the U.S. The safety of our kids simply must trump the burdens of expense and political discomfort.

I hate for any of us to live in fear, but this trend forces us to be vigilant, especially as the holiday toy season arrives. You can read the government’s toy hazard list at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/category/toy.html .