Dramatis personae: my wife's brother, and his daughter, who is not quite five.
- Am I the best daddy in the world?
- No, daddy.
<wags finger>
You need to try harder.
Sounds like the EVIL influence of premature formal education...
Context for this was fathers' day: my BIL had been given a card which proclaimed him the best daddy in the world, and was foolish enough to seek affirmation. I don't *think* formal education had anything to do with it, as the little minx had not yet started school, though she had been at a playgroup.
Meantime, she's recently told her mother who is boss:
- Mummy, you need to come when I clap my hands, and do what I say.
- Oh? Why do I have to come when you clap your hands?
- Because I don't have a bell.
(No, we are not getting her a bell for Christmas. It's tempting, but I don't think her parents would forgive us.)