I was too ... until I realized how much my older one has learned from these things. We do a lot where I need one or the other or both boys to be quiet and still for couple minutes or even hours so these can be a real life saver for us. Plus I find it hard to keep challenging my kids all day long and these toys do a great job! I don't really see them as toys ... I see them as learning devices ... but of course you have to find the time limit that works for you so the kids aren't playing with them all the time. My 4-year old is pretty good at putting it away when he's had enough. He goes for days without them and then he has days when he's really into them. When he went through months of running on 2-3 hours of sleep a day, the vsmile system in his room got ME through the days / nights and let me get some sleep while he was quietly playing. Fortunately we're past that time of our lives! lol ... but he still loves all of these!
