Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

This was, again, one of those books that is hard to put down. Having raised children, I was curious about what this mother could possibly have to say about child rearing that I didn't already know. However, I was in for a surprise! Amy Chua was much tougher and much more disciplined than I was in my mothering. I sometimes kept my kids home from school, hated school projects because I knew that most of the parents did them, and hated the competition of all the other parents who pressured their kids to come in first in everything and anything. My kids and I did things together, napped together, and just enjoyed simple things and being together. If this sounds like pampering, it wasn't. They were told to do things on their own, deal with adversity because it "builds "character," and take the good with the bad. While Amy Chua represents the extreme of parenting,most parents could take lessons from her. I have watched most parents protecting their children's self-esteem, but not giving them the backbone they'll need to get through life. Amy Chua worked at building her children's talents so that they would be successful in life, which is different from what many parents do. Most parents push their children to succeed because their children's successes are validation to the parents--when their kids do well the parents feel they are also successful people. While I won't go so far as to say that how Amy Chua parented is the best way to parent, her approach did have some merit, as the discipline she instilled in her children would benefit everyone. Read this book- the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is worthwhile and thought-provoking.