Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Day!

Say a prayer to Aphrodite today. :)

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Tiger Mom: Lulu in the Cold

Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, should have learned her lesson when Lulu was three, and then she could have shocked the world with an article, rather than a really uneven book. It boils down to this: Will you hurt your child to get her to do what you want?

Chua decided to give Lulu her first piano lesson when she was three. Lulu, as pre-schoolers are wont to do, wanted to bang on the piano in joyous fashion. Chua wanted Lulu to play middle C nicely & evenly three times in a row. Lulu really didn't want to. It escalated to Lulu throwing a full-on kicking screaming tantrum, so Chua deposited Lulu on the front stoop, in freezing weather, in her street clothes, and told her she had to stay outside until she was ready to play properly. Lulu took the challenge, refused to come back inside, and prepared to freeze. Chua caved, offered hot chocolate, brownies, and recognized the Ghost of Child Protective Services looming over her shoulder. And Amy Chua didn't learn a thing from this, other than that she wouldn't physically abuse her child. Verbal and emotional abuse were still on the table! That, and enough money on lessons and private coaching to endow a small college were what Chua "used" to craft her SuperKids.

Please don't buy her book. In my two blog posts, you've got the essence. Here's a link to an interview about another similar, but more loving way to grow some high achievers: Battle Hymn of the ...Lioness Mom?

Next post will be The Tigger Mom!