Step away from the genius gear!

I was really thrilled to see this article in the current issue of Newsweek, including reference to a new book called Buy Buy Baby by journalist Susan Gregory-Thomas, about what a complete waste of money all this "genius gear" is for babies. This has been a pet peeve of mine for several years. The article even discusses the genesis of this phenomenon, which was born in a Carnegie Corporation report called "Starting Points," and greatly advanced, quite unintentionally, by Rob Reiner, who was trying to influence government to invest more in early childhood development for deprived kids (not middle- and upper-class kids!) Marketers saw an opportunity and a retail craze was born. The article concludes that the best thing parents can do for their babies is talk, sing and read to them, and invest the money in a college savings account!

Read the entire article (it's not long):

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18108857/site/newsweek/