My sister shared an article with me that was in the Wall Street Journal a couple of days ago. You may have seen it. The article was titled "Why Chinese Mothers are Superior". Click here for a link to the article.
Wow. Reading that article was kind of a clarifying moment for me in my parenting. I am not saying that I am going to adopt her list of what she doesn't allow her children to do. However, she has prompted me to think about what I hold most important for my children. I have been thinking about what it is that I think gets in the way of those values. What are my priorities for them, and how are we living that in day to day life?
When I read the article, I was not offended by the author's ideas or defensive of my parenting. Many of her ideas I would not feel comfortable implementing with my children. However, she has made me think deeply about our parenting priorities and what our non-negotiables are, and I am grateful for that.
1 comment:
I've been listening to discussions of this same book, "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" on NPR all day yesterday and today- it certainly elicits very strong reactions in parents- some people react very strongly and see Mrs. Chou as an abusive parent, and some identify their own upbringing in her parenting style. The discussion about setting up expectations for our children and how to best teach them to to have high expectations of themselves, and to strive to always be their best is, I think, very relevant and important.
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