Hottest toys for preschoolers this year are:

I have no problem with these types of gifts for school- age children; but, this article is talking about giving fully functional cell phones and Internet capable laptops to a two year old. I know what my son was like at that age and I would never have given him either one; he would have torn it apart within a week trying to see what was inside it. Also, part of the problem is that we don't REALLY know how this will affect our children in the long run and by the time we see the results it will be too late - you can't turn back time. Pediatricians and researchers have found that watching TV and playing video games at TOO early an age actually "rewires" how a child thinks and they no longer think the same WAY that their peers do. They have done studies that show that blood flows differently through the brain and they have problems in areas that other children don't have. Once the children are a little older, these things are not as harmful because their brains do this "wiring" in the first 2 - 3 years. Some of these doctors believe that this MAY actually have something to do with the HUGE increase in ADD, ADHD, autism, etc. that we are seeing in our society. If your child developed one or more of these conditions and later you found out that your "gifts" were THE cause - how would you feel then? I also know how much I loved going outside to swing and play on the slide of my swingset. I remember building forts with my friends and pretending we were in the old west, jungles of Africa, etc. My son loved riding his big wheel and pretending it was a motorcycle or race car. He enjoyed digging in the back yard and looking for "dinosaur bones". Between him and our dog, we always had holes in the backyard, I am worried that we are now raising a generation of children who will never have the imagination and creativity to enjoy any of these things. And, if they do not develop the ability to use their imagination and be creative; what will happen to the world when they become adults and take over? I am not saying parents CAN'T give these gifts to their kids; I am just saying maybe they should think more about it FIRST. Children do NOT know what is good for them - they will eat poison as fast as they would a cookie or put a waffle in a DVD player as fast as they would a DVD. Especially, when we are talking about PRESCHOOLERS. we have to make choices and decisions for them until they have had a chance to learn just to keep them safe so they will have the time they need to grow up and start making decisions themselves and for their own children..

You can debate and justify and quote statistics till you're blue in the face. It's still none of your business what other people give their children as gifts.

I would just like to add that I did not start this discussion to TELL anyone what they should or should not buy for their children. I started this discussion to bring this trend to the attention of other parents and see what they thought about it - good or bad. I did include my opinion; because, this is my discussion and I am a parent who has raised a child plus I was the caregiver for my aunts 4 children for almost 2 years taking care of them while she was working. So, I do know a bit about children and their toys.

I agree with your stand, and I subscribe to the same argument of not spoiling the child at too young an age, or keeping up with the Joneses in giving to children what others also choose give to theirs. It is as much a control for parents as it is for children not to adhere to peer pressure. It is the value system parents inculcate in their children during growing up years that determine how their children grow up learning to view the world, the value of money, thrift and prudence in spending money, appreciation for what they have or not have, etc. Ultimately, what a parent gives his/her children is one's own business and decision. They will reap what they sow.

That I agree with you too. It is a disturbing trend, and sadly, I feel that overall it can only get worse rather than better with time. I must qualify though that there are still some who are brought up with the right value system, and they carry themselves very responsibly in their adult working world. I personally know of many responsible parents who bring up good God-fearing children, whose conduct and attitude are to be admired.

4 is a lot older and more mature than a 2 year old and a digital camera is a better choice than a regular camera where they have to wait for the pictures to be available. By 4, he is also not too likely to "flush it".

I'm sorry to hear about your son's condition. Your right though about the large crayons being an option. I remember those.

The real shame of it is that no one recognized what the problem was until he was already in school and in the first grade. We only knew that he didn't like to draw or color. It wasn't until one evening when he was trying to do his homework and was taking forever to get it done; that I noticed he kept stopping and shaking and rubbing his hand. When I told him to stop and get back to work (I though he was just fidgeting because he also has ADHD); he finally admitted that his hand "hurt". He said the pencil was "hurting" his hand. So, I raided my office supplies and came up with an assortment of pens and pencils and had him try each of them until we found the ones that he did best with. But, until that night, he never told us he had a problem and none of his teachers (preschool or regular school) had ever noticed this problem or said anything about it, if they did notice it.

That problem can land squarely on oversize classrooms. Teachers have to teach classes with 35 or more students now. These massive numbers of kids can cause quiet things like trouble holding a pencil or crayon to slip by amidst the noisier troubles... It is lucky that he had an observant parent like you so the slide did not go further. * How did the school react when you told them about the problem? Just curious as I have disabilities myself.

I agree that this is a distinction we need to teach our children - these high tech gadgets are NOT toys for little children. As they grow older, purchasing them for our kids when they are more age appropriate is fine. But, this push to provide fully functional high tech gadgets to preschoolers is ridiculous.

I know; it is so easy to go overboard. We love them and want to give them the things we never had. But, it is not necessarily good for them to give them everything they want. If you do find that you have gone overboard; your solution of taking care of some of the things and giving them to them later makes a lot of sense.