Frankly I would give the kid a break and give him a chance to play, enjoy the outdors and read before even thinking about putting him in front of a computer.

I know we all love computers around here, but I don't know why my son should. Why should I be force him to learn my trade, or even why he should be exposed to it before he asks for it.

Plus I don't want to raise an idiot-savant. I had never seen a computer before I went to college (yes, that's how old I am! My parents did not even get a TV until I was 10 or so), and I don't think that's a handicap when it comes to coding skills. Developing my imagination through reading seems to me the single most important part of my education, the one that helps me the most when I am programming. And even if I sucked at soccer, at least it taught me to respect other people's skills!

So please, give your kid a chance to grow up as a human being, not as a programer. He will thank you for that.

BTW, the paragraph about how scary it would be for you to see him take to VB instead of Perl is Hilarious, good job ;--)