Did anyone really think that goat puppet would create genius babies?

It was only a matter of time before parents of decidedly normal kids lawyered up to sue the pants off those Baby Einstein charlatans. All of those hours spent transfixed by goat puppets and difficult-to-find toys, it seems, have done nothing more than allow parents to do selfish things like laundry, answering the door, and *gasp* peeing alone (the luxury!). It's true. My kids watched Baby Einstein videos and not one of them has been recruited by the government for secret code-breaking missions. Maybe I'll get those "Teach Your Baby to Read" videos and see if I can sue their pants off when Poppy still, at the embarrassing age of 1, year cannot read and speak. That'll show 'em.

Now, to be fair, it wasn't a group of parents who started the lawsuit, it was the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. Here's the short version:

Last year, lawyers threatened a class-action lawsuit for unfair and deceptive practices unless Disney agreed to refund the full purchase price to all who bought the videos since 2004. “The Walt Disney Company’s entire Baby Einstein marketing regime is based on express and implied claims that their videos are educational and beneficial for early childhood development,” a letter from the lawyers said, calling those claims “false because research shows that television viewing is potentially harmful for very young children.”

The letter cited estimates from The Washington Post and Business Week that Baby Einstein controlled 90 percent of the baby media market, and sold $200 million worth of products annually.

The letter also described studies showing that television exposure at ages 1 through 3 is associated with attention problems at age 7.

In response, the Baby Einstein company will refund $15.99 for up to four “Baby Einstein” DVDs per household, bought between June 5, 2004, and Sept. 5, 2009, and returned to the company.

While I think no TV is ideal for the youngest children (mine watched plenty anyway), the value of these DVDs was that they were just so sweet and simple. I figured they had to be better than Power Rangers. I suppose there will always be a quixotic someone out there who feels compelled to fight windmills.


In other news, go over and visit Haus Maus. She's making me wish I lived in Germany, too. At least I have the lazy Sunday thing mastered (and I recommend it highly as well).