How smart is your 3yo? - "Toddler buys earthmover in online auction"  

I don't know about that site but if it's anything like Ebay and the like, then yes, it is quite simply to bid on something with just a fe clicks, perhaps having to type in numbers which, I would think, a 3 year old could do intentionally or otherwise. It's possible that the mother had bid on a toy digger and the child had clicked on a "view similar items" button. It's really not that amazing for a child to have done such a thing. However, I would wonder why the parents allowed the child to mess around with the computer while her parents slept? My 3 year old is very adept at using a computer but he would never be allowed to use it without supervision and certainly wouldn't allow him to use the computer if I hadn't logged out of everything that wasn't appropriate for him.
To answer the question, yes I do have a really smart 3 year old! He is nearly 4 though but has been able to use a computer on his own for about 2 years. He picked it up really quickly and knows which sites he is allowed to use and he understands if I tell him not to go by the computer and doesn't do it.
I'm not surprised that a young child could have done such a thing but I am surprised at the parents for not taking care to supervise the child. I think they should be grateful that the child didn't click elsewhere and do anything worse.

There are some really smart 3 yrs olds, in the world and remember children learn best from watching adults. I'm sure he didn't understand how much it was or how big it was, it just looked like a great toy to him.

hiya owlwings

I'm sure I heard this or a similar event on t.v. news some time ago and although amused by it I very much doubt it could be done by a 3 year old. There are some pretty smart kids out there and I guess if he was on his mum's knee at every opportunity then he would learn very quickly. I have a granddaughter who is almost 5 and I doubt very much she could bid and win in an on line auction. You would have to put in passowrds etc when making payment.. nope, IMO the woman in question probably made the mistake and used the kid as a scapegoat!

Alice