Are you a Tiger Mother?

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111504576059713528698754.html

Amy Chua with her daughters, Sophia and Louisa

This woman is absolutely maniacal!  I'm not one for political correctness, but don't see how an article like this could get to be the Wall Street Journal's Saturday Essay if not for the redeeming fact that its author is a Yale Law School professor with impeccable credentials.

I don't even want to dignify Ms. Chua's growing internet notoriety with a well-crafted rebuttal, as many other mom bloggers must already be racing to respond to her incendiary message .  All I want to say is that if your definition of child-rearing success is turning out superior robots, then Ms. Chua's methodology is definitely the way to go.  In all likelihood, her over-achieving offsprings will turn out to be exactly like their arrogant and high-strung mother, in both the good, and especially the bad, ways.  Which is a shame because their father came across from the article as the adult who provided a voice of reason in the family, albeit too softly to be heard over the clamor of his strident, demanding, obsessed, wife.

In Defense of the Guilty, Ambivalent, Preoccupied Western Mom

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703333504576080422577800488.html

In dealing with the backlash prompted by her shamelessly self-congratulatory article, Ms. Chua solf-pedaled quite a bit in her interview on the TODAY Show, but her proclamations of love and understanding rang false and didn't make her extreme parenting dogmas more convincing or palatable to any reason-minded person.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41005969/ns/today-books/

Retreat of the 'Tiger Mother'

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/fashion/16Cultural.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

I know a Tiger Mother like Ms. Chua.  The first time I spoke with her for more than a minute when we were just mere acquaintances, she'd unleashed a litany of complaints about how stressed and unfulfilled she was that her son had continued to defy her by refusing to follow in his father's footsteps (the elder is a physician).  She didn't bother to hide the fact that after trying to cope with her relentless cajolement... graduating to pressure and then coercion... for years, her son finally broke down (though not in the way his mother would've wanted) by closing the door on her literally and figuratively.  He disappeared into his room and didn't speak to his mother for three months one summer.  Their testy relationship didn't induce guilt on the part of the mother or deter this single-minded oman from her ultimate mission.  When I again met her husband at a party and inquired about the ongoing conflict, he confirmed mother and son were still at odds and seemed resigned to the idea that their home atmosphere would be one of unhappiness and dissension when it came to the subject of their children's career paths.

It should be noted that the "rebellious" son had gotten in Pharmacy school and wanted to stay there and finish his degree.  Apparently this wasn't good enough for his mother.

My children should be so glad I'm not a superior Chinese mother and even proud of it!

Viewers' comments from the Diane Rehm show:

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-01-12/amy-chua-battle-hymn-tiger-mother