I have met some serious hothousers, including a mom who started flashcards with her infant in a high chair and would give him a bite of food only when he pointed to the right flashcard. THAT is hothousing from my perspective. Forced learning by withholding something else the child needs- affection or food or whatever.

Buying educational toys and showing the child LeapFrog games and videos really doesn't fall into hothousing in my book. That's just being an attentive parent who has fallen for the marketing ploy of educational toy companies. If the child has toys and they happen to have an academic twist, I don't really see the harm in that. Every toy is designed with some "learning" component, whether old wooden blocks or a letter-pillar from LeapFrog.