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These stories are funny and, apparently, pretty common.

I guess I should say that sometimes DH doesn't really help. I found out that he credits my DS being able to read at 3 all to me. I was aghast, seriously, LOL. The misunderstanding comes from DS having had a big foam puzzle/playmat that had the letters/numbers that could be punched out. We used to play on that all the time, and DS would ask what's this? what's that? and so on, so I told him. Hence, I guess I "drilled" him with the alphabet and numbers. Well, then came the "what does that say?" all the time while driving. You know, reading every road sign and billboard to him wasn't possible, so I explained to him that he'd be able to read them himself one day once he learned what sounds the letters make. Then...."what does A say? What does B say" and so on. And it wasn't long that he was sounding out words himself. And *I* get full credit for teaching him how to read. I had to set DH straight on that one - making me look like some kind of schoolmarm.....

Someone gave us the Baby Einstein tapes and I liked them. We were in Germany at the time and programming wasn't as varied as it is here. I liked them because they were mellow and relaxing, not so much for the 'instruction'. I had a pretty active non-stop toddler, so anything that kept his attention for 20 minutes or so was good for me, but it's not as if he spent all day watching them. I'm sure the series is great, but I don't credit them for DS being the way he is. My personal opinion is that if educational programming was really capable of increasing kids' IQs or performance or whatever the claim is, there'd be a lot more kids like this. I'm sure it doesn't hurt, but I don't know that it necessarily helps either. Just my thoughts.