Who's More Intelligent?

Today DH gave an oral history presentation, so naturally the entire family attended this event. Being well-known among the community of interested viewers, we knew several of the attendees (bragging rights - he had double the near max audience of other programs), so naturally DH had to show off DD. Now, showing off, as any proud parents can testify, does not consist merely of showcasing your child like a model. Oh, no. We proud parents must show off our child's latest skills, accomplishments, developments, whatever. DD was very good throughout all of this and "performed" happily several times prior to the presentation and during lunch, with an extremely early wake up time and short nap, no less. Among the talents we ask her to perform (she'll gladly run around and climb without any coaxing) she'll make a couple of animal sounds, do various baby signs, indicate a number of body parts, "find" a family member, and give kisses. Sometimes she'll amaze people by feeding herself with a spoon or fork, although her Zeide fed her today, so she wasn't given such an opportunity. She did, however, melt hearts by giving away hugs like there was no tomorrow.

All this leads me to wonder, however, who we're actually showing off. Are we trying to let the world know how intelligent and well developed our children are, or what wonderful parents we are that not only have we been able to teach our children such "tricks," but to perform on command as well?

My grandmother was shocked to see how well DD follows directions after viewing the following:

Just so you know, since DD seems interested when we use the toilet, and likes to play with the toilet (before I can scoop her away), I decided to go ahead and purchase her own potty for her to play with. She enjoys taking it apart, sitting on it, and sitting Mickey Mouse on it. The other day she did get off it with a poopy diaper, but whether that occurred while on the toilet or not, I'm not sure. That is my goal, however. Have her get used to having bowel movements on the toilet, then tell me she needs to poop in time for me to remove her diaper. After that's sunk in, then we'll move on to the urination business. A unique approach, I think, but an interesting experiment.

What gets me is the fact that somehow, without forcing the language upon her, DD has picked up on words used occasionally and can associate them to various acts. Other times I'm surprisingly "rewarded" with proof that the words, signs, whatever I have been using regularly have finally, if not always, been understood. For instance, I would often sign "tree" while talking or singing about them, pointing to an actual or a picture of one, etc. Then one day while asking DD to point to the picture of the tree, she signed the word (she rarely points to objects I ask about, but she point to a picture and then sign it). So now, more than ever, GM wants to send DD Your Baby Can Read. I'm torn, because I can see many benefits, and definitely the wow factor, especially if DD reads shortly after starting the program, but I'm wary of the drawbacks as well. For one thing, will she feel forced to read, and therefore not care to later on? Right now she enjoys books. She plays with them, brings them to us to read, touches the various tactile and auditory stimulations, and sometimes will babble while holding open a page for an extended period of time. Second, will she actually learn to read, or just memorize sight words? While there is definitely some benefit to that, it won't help her decipher our complex reading system. Finally, just because she may be at a "third grade reading level" by the time she's three, does that mean she understands at a third grade level? I'll give it a try and see what happens. I think that between the program and my additional teachings she can achieve all things.

So, how do you show off your child, and is it really your child you're showing off, or yourself?