I'll stick to wooden blocks and soft dolls, thanks

Earlier this month, Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington in Seattle, released a study on the effectiveness of the Baby Einstein videos in promoting learning in infants.

The results were not good for parents looking for some relief when they plop their tiny tot in front of the tv.

Because the videos simply show mesmerizing images (like lava lamps) with classical music but no natural dialogue, the children from 8 to 16 months of age who watch such videos have a lower language acquisition than other children. Dr. Christakis hypothesizes that these babies are not speaking or being spoken to as much, and therefore are deprived of language interaction for an hour to two hours. Reading or singing to the child, or playing games, greatly enhances the child's early language acquisition. The effects don't seem to be permenant, as the older children show normal language levels.

My first reaction: ha! Take that, stupid videos!

While I realize that the Baby Einstein videos give parents a chance to make dinner without worrying about the baby, I personally don't think I could bring myself to show them to my future children. I despise any kind of children's television that doesn't serve a learning purpose. If children must watch tv, they might as well get some kind of learning from it. And shows like Sesame Street (though I don't like what it has become), Veggie Tales, or even Bob the Builder, engage in normal dialogue that does not condescend to what we think is a child's comprehension level. Learning only happens when the human brain is challenged to take the next step, to go beyond what it is already certain is true. Kids won't get smarter if we always talk with them in baby talk.

Besides that, I hate the industry of children's toys nowadays (especially videos). People always laugh when their child gets a great toy, and spends all of Christmas Day playing with the box. Today's toy industry stifles imagination; instead of pretending a refrigerator box is a spaceship, we are offered real plastic spaceships that a kid can sit in (and probably vibrates). Little girls will play with soft dolls and change their cloth diapers - we don't need an electronic doll that simulates actual digestion.

While it may be so much easier to raise a child with all the helpful devices in today's world, I long to return to the days of homemade, simple toys.