Confessions of a guilty hot-houser:
Mine was "reading" cartoons off the tv guide channel at that age. �At least yours is reading books. �And I think what I'm doing is hothousing because I bought him elementary school software and showed him how to write letters. �And I know I "hothoused seatwork" because that's what I was told I was doing, even though that's not what I called it when I did it. �I sat him down for 15 minutes a day to get him used to sitting down and doing what he's told, or listening to someone teach him something. �He doesn't go to Sunday school, he doesn't go to preschool. �I thought it would make him better disciplined. �I slacked off at the end of my pregnancy and we started recently doing the instructions again. �
When I did slack off he still did his educational software, which is always at his request. �I'm so evil i thought, good. �He wants to learn. �I've got him in the habit of studying. �Mwah-ha-ha. �He's got choices. �He's got the firefox kidzui which is every kid brain candy from nickelodeon, Disney, even YouTube. �Not to mention a room full of toys and a yard to play in and a t.v. �But everytime he finishes an educational software, book, and toy I buy him a new one. �
Is it hothousing if you just raise your kid? �I'm so confused. �Maybe I'm not so confused if I don't care what it's called. :P
If you want to brainwash them with a formal education I'll text you my shopping list. �I think we've been doing pretty good. �I had this argument~I mean conversation last year when I was a total rookie mom, and very vulnerable, and unsure. �Hothousing can't just mean teaching your kid stuff, not if it's a big insult like everyone makes it sound. �It would have to mean something like trying to turn an apple seed into an orange tree (and being disappointed), or, I read a blog link that likened it to a pair of pinetrees on a hill, one of which was deformed from someone trying to bonsai or topiary it into the shape she wanted regardless of it's nature. �That was supposed to be an argument against early formal education, but of course that's not how I read it. �
Eta: I'm not all for those daycares that have two year olds sit still at a desk all day and sit on their hands if they can't sit still. �Yes, they exist. �That's (censored).
