Chinese Mother

I actually agree with Amy Chua on her extreme type of parenting. In the end, her daughter Lulu was able to play the piece she was trying to learn and enjoyed playing it once she got it. I played almost every sport possible and quit every one when I was a kid. I wished my parents had forced me to stay in swimming. My uncle was visiting from California when he and my mom took me to my first official swim lesson. He says that the swim coach came up to my mom after the lesson and said, “I normally don’t do this, but can we put her in a meet this weekend?” My mom agreed and my uncle proudly says I won the race they put me in. I did swimming for about a year before I quit. I just got bored with it, every day doing the same strokes in the same lanes, so I threw an tantrum and got my way. But I wish my mom had been a “Chinese mother” and forced me to stay in it.    

I think she could be doing the right thing. I’m friends with a lot of oriental people who also have a “Chinese father” as well as a “Chinese mother.” Not to be stereotypical, but every single one of them fall into the smart Asian category. They are all academically smart and are good behaving kids. I don’t know yet if they’re screwed up for the rest of their lives, but maybe I’ll see at our high school reunion. I don’t think they would be because I think what they took from their upbringing was to be hard working people.

I know Freud believed in the stages of development, but I don’t see how a “Chinese mother” is interfering in those phases. If there is any interference, it may be trying to push their kid to fast, like having them learn to read too early.