This whole 'vanilla' thing is getting out of hand.

Eh, I don't know about that. There are valid concerns with learning how to code with a framework before you fully understand how to code without a framework.

1. If you don't stay curious about how things work, you risk falling into cargo cult programming - solving problems by copying chunks of code that you don't understand but that you think solved the problem before.
2. Working with a framework before understanding how exactly frameworks work in your language means you are unlikely to be able to reason well about how your program actually functions. This means that you may find it very difficult to identify the source of some bugs. "Why isn't my callback ever running" is much tougher to answer if you don't know what a callback actually is or how it comes to be executed!
3. If you learn with a framework from an early stage, you may never develop the general understanding of programming needed to work with other frameworks or other languages. If you learn how to "code in Laravel", you will likely have more difficulty using a different technology or stack than someone who has a more foundational knowledge of Web programming.

Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't learn a framework like Laravel when learning to program for the Web. I'm saying that you should learn a framework alongside learning programming fundamentals, not instead of it.