11 Toys We Grew Up With That We’d Never Give Kids Today

Compared to our kids, we grew up feral.

Barely supervised by adults, our backyards and playgrounds were our kingdoms. With nary a warning label, the toys we coveted were light years beyond age appropriateness. Which, of course, DID NOT stop anyone in our lives from handing them over.

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With the holidays bearing down on us like a dodgeball thrown by a rather large 10-year-old, it’s time for us to adult-up and get down to buying our kids some toys.

While the news will concern troll us with BUT ARE THEY SAFE?! hysterics, it’s important to know that U.S. toy safety requirements are among the strictest in the world. By shopping at reputable stores and online retailers you trust and by paying attention to the age-grading on toy packages, you’re doing 100% more than, you know, our parents. And we survived.

Most toys come with instructions and age-restrictions. You want to pay attention to these front-of-box age restrictions — some toys come with small parts that pose a choking hazard to little ones so it’s important to follow these safety guidelines. Plus, you can visit Playsafe.org to check on a toy’s recall status or read their handy safety guides broken down by age.

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We asked the Scary Mommy community to tell us what they can’t believe their parents let them play with.

1. That Time Everyone Wrongly Assumed What You Needed Was a Bug Bakery

2. Sure, a Real Pony Has Some Inherent Dangers But Nothing Like Clinging on for Dear Life Because Spring Coils

3. Our Parents Were Absolutely SAVAGE

4. There Were A Lot of Explosives in Our Childhood That We Forgot About — Like This Toy Gun Accessory

5. While Not a Toy, We Judged Everything Based on Metal-Slide-Level Hot or Not

6. The Exact Moment We Learned the Powers of Physical Comedy

7. How Did Our Parents Not See This Coming?

8. Every Second on This Thing Was Absolutely Thrilling

9. WE DIDN’T KNOW

10. Charlie Brown Does NOT Approve

11. What Could Possibly Go Wrong Here Except Everything?

Safety is the toy industry’s top priority every day of the year. For more information, families are invited to visit PlaySafe.org, The Toy Association’s website for parents and caregivers.