Baby's First Brainwashing

So, when J was about 14 months old, and not talking (oh, who am I kidding, he still isn't talking), he learned a few basic signs. He quickly adapted the sign for"more" to mean "I want". One morning we were watching a bit of TV, and an ad came on for the Dairy Queen Cheesequake. He paid little attention until the final scene, which showed an extreme close-up of the ice cream treat in question. Transfixed, he sat deep in thought for a nanosecond and then, with the air of one coming to a momentous decision, pointed to the screen, looked me dead in the eye, and signed "I WANT." With utter, final, certainty. He had no point of reference on which to base his conclusion that this stuff was desirable, other than the TV's assertion of the same.

Brrrr. We turned the TV off after that.