Sweet Jesus, this mom is crazy.

So basically Amy Chua, the mother of two girls, sets high standards for her kids:

"Here are some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do:

• attend a sleepover

• have a playdate

• be in a school play

• complain about not being in a school play

• watch TV or play computer games

• choose their own extracurricular activities

• get any grade less than an A

• not be the No. 1 student in every subject except gym and drama

• play any instrument other than the piano or violin

• not play the piano or violin."

In my opinion, she unfortunatelyre enforces the Asian stereotype of mothers.

Heres an excerpt:

[Arguing about playing a piano piece & ordering her to play it]She punched, thrashed and kicked. She grabbed the music score and tore it to shreds. I taped the scoreback together and encased it in a plastic shield so that it could never be destroyed again. Then I hauled Lulu's dollhouse to the car and told her I'd donate it to the SalvationArmy piece by piece if she didn't have "The Little White Donkey" perfect by the next day. When Lulu said, "I thought you were going to the Salvation Army, why are you stillhere?" I threatened her with no lunch, no dinner, no Christmas or Hanukkah presents, no birthday parties for two, three, four years. When she still kept playing it wrong, Itold her she was purposely working herself into a frenzy because she was secretly afraid she couldn't do it. I told her to stop being lazy, cowardly, self-indulgent and pathetic.

Link

Just a minor criticism, your thread made no sense until I clicked the link. It'd make a lot more sense if you included this kind of vital sentence for comprehension: "Here are some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do:"

Wow, stereo type to the max, my mum gave up on me few years ago.

I agree with adding the "not allowed to do" part. I read through that list four or five times trying to find the high.

Way to make your kids socially inept and ostracize them from their peers. Yeah, treating your kids like that might make them successful in one specific field but it doesn't prepare them for working with other people. They're going to be real happy as adults working away in research jobs with no social life.

The woman is a monster.

That sucks.

0.0 What? I'm sort of glad my parents just said, "Do what ever you want."

True Asian to the max. Im glad my family is the type of asian where if you did bad things you just get smacked with the bamboo stick!

Wow I saw this on the news a few days ago. I never complain about my parents being strict becuase I know they aren't strict at all compared to some.

What a horrible, controlling mother. She took the best years of her children's lives away from them - shame on her.

I find it funny that they are only allowed to play the piano or violin and they can't be in a school play. What's up with that?

While the mom is really strict, more parents in the US should take a lesson from Asian parents.

I had a lot of Chinese and Indian friends in college and grad school who grew up with overbearing parents, and underneath the facade of success, most of them were emotional trainwrecks who were deeply unhappy. They also tended to be immature, socially inept, and have trouble making decisions for themselves. This is not how you raise a healthy kid.

What's even the point of living with a life like that?

So basically Amy Chua, the mother of two girls, sets high standards for her kids:

"Here are some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do:

• attend a sleepover

• have a playdate

• be in a school play

• complain about not being in a school play

• watch TV or play computer games

• choose their own extracurricular activities

• get any grade less than an A

• not be the No. 1 student in every subject except gym and drama

• play any instrument other than the piano or violin

• not play the piano or violin."

In my opinion, she unfortunatelyre enforces the Asian stereotype of mothers.

Heres an excerpt:

[Arguing about playing a piano piece & ordering her to play it]She punched, thrashed and kicked. She grabbed the music score and tore it to shreds. I taped the scoreback together and encased it in a plastic shield so that it could never be destroyed again. Then I hauled Lulu's dollhouse to the car and told her I'd donate it to the SalvationArmy piece by piece if she didn't have "The Little White Donkey" perfect by the next day. When Lulu said, "I thought you were going to the Salvation Army, why are you stillhere?" I threatened her with no lunch, no dinner, no Christmas or Hanukkah presents, no birthday parties for two, three, four years. When she still kept playing it wrong, Itold her she was purposely working herself into a frenzy because she was secretly afraid she couldn't do it. I told her to stop being lazy, cowardly, self-indulgent and pathetic.

Link

DroidPhysX

Thats horrible,for god sakes we only like once, why not enjoy our life!

What's even the point of living with a life like that?

GabuEx

[QUOTE="GabuEx"]

What's even the point of living with a life like that?

Head_of_games

Yeah, but if they do grow up to be rich businesswomen or musicians... then what?

Do the credits roll and they get credit for getting 100% completion in Life: The Game?

[QUOTE="Head_of_games"][QUOTE="GabuEx"]

What's even the point of living with a life like that?

GabuEx

Yeah, but if they do grow up to be rich businesswomen or musicians... then what?

Do the credits roll and they get credit for getting 100% completion in Life: The Game?

I hope the moms life was just as bad as the kids is. HeavenSparks

if i ever saw that lady in real life i would goddamn slap the s*** out of her, who the hell is she to be proud of being such a jackass8-Bitterness

"Are you doctor yet?" "Dad, i'm 12." "Talk to me when you doctor!"GeForce2187

I did actually have a grandfather who was insistent, like this lady, that there were only a select few professions that were acceptable for his children. At one point when his son told him he wanted to be a veterinarian, he replied, "No, you don't. You want to be a doctor."

[QUOTE="8-Bitterness"]if i ever saw that lady in real life i would goddamn slap the s*** out of her, who the hell is she to be proud of being such a jackassLonelynight

This woman is advocating child abuse. She may not be advocating physical abuse, but emotional abuse can be just as bad or worse. So yeah, I think she deserves a good slap in the face.

Poor girls... They are missing the best years of their lives.

This woman is advocating child abuse. So yeah, I think she deserves a good slap in the face.cmdrmonkey45

Poor girls... They are missing the best years of their lives.arad96

[QUOTE="GabuEx"]

What's even the point of living with a life like that?

Head_of_games

How would they grow up to be successful businessmen if they don't develop the social skills or the ability to relate and socialize with others because their lives are kept under lock and key?

[QUOTE="cmdrmonkey45"]This woman is advocating child abuse. So yeah, I think she deserves a good slap in the face.Lonelynight

Poor girls... They are missing the best years of their lives.arad96

Maybe not illegal, but definitely horrible. And these kids will never be able to experience joy. She's creating kids who are emotionally dead inside.

Those kids should be taken away from her. She's absolutely insane.Theokhoth

Maybe not illegal, but definitely horrible. And these kids will never be able to experience joy. She's creating kids who are emotionally dead inside.cmdrmonkey45

Your child may be educated as a result, but they'll hate the parent and their life, not exactly the best trade-off.

And I'm pretty sure this is child abuse.

[QUOTE="Theokhoth"]Those kids should be taken away from her. She's absolutely insane.Lonelynight

Calling your kids worthless and pathetic and threatening not to feed them and to throw their toys in the trash because they can't meet your insane standards of perfection is child abuse.

[QUOTE="cmdrmonkey45"]Maybe not illegal, but definitely horrible. And these kids will never be able to experience joy. She's creating kids who are emotionally dead inside.Lonelynight

Because I've seen the end result of this style of parenting in graduate school. They end up hating the careers like medicine or law or engineering they've been forced into. They end up hating their parents. And they end up absolutely miserable in life.

Calling your kids worthless and pathetic and threatening not to feed them and to throw their toys in the trash because they can't meet your insane standards of perfection is child abuse.cmdrmonkey45

They end up hating the careers like medicine or law or engineering they've been forced into. They end up hating their parents. And they end up absolutely miserable in life.cmdrmonkey45

[QUOTE="cmdrmonkey45"]Calling your kids worthless and pathetic and threatening not to feed them and to throw their toys in the trash because they can't meet your insane standards of perfection is child abuse.Lonelynight

They end up hating the careers like medicine or law or engineering they've been forced into. They end up hating their parents. And they end up absolutely miserable in life.cmdrmonkey45

It doesn't matter after they're out of the house, the effect of the first 16-18 years of their miserable life will still be there.

[QUOTE="cmdrmonkey45"]Calling your kids worthless and pathetic and threatening not to feed them and to throw their toys in the trash because they can't meet your insane standards of perfection is child abuse.Lonelynight

They end up hating the careers like medicine or law or engineering they've been forced into. They end up hating their parents. And they end up absolutely miserable in life.cmdrmonkey45

The mother basically has a box for both her children that she's determined to shove them into regardless of how well they fit. She's not allowing them to have any sleepovers or to watch any TV or play any video games (something that will likely severely hamper her children's social growth); she's not allowing them to pursue extracurricular activities of their choice; she's expecting them to be the #1 student in every single academic subject (a completely ridiculous expectation); and she's forcing them to play instruments of her choosing, whether they want to or not. By the time these kids are eighteen, they will basically have no self-identity whatsoever and will know nothing other than pleasing their mother out of fear of the consequences if they don't.

I have seen many, many people who are outrageous perfectionists. Their histories always inevitably are like this, and they are always inevitably miserable, whether or not they let on. Children need to be able to express themselves. Parents outright forcing their children to be exactly how they want them to be, not for a moment allowing the child any input regarding what her actual interests are, are absolutely committing child abuse. There is no way the child is getting out of that without being psychologically damaged.

Not that harsh for their race to be honest. Americans are too strict when it comes to school/work. Life should be first.

[QUOTE="GabuEx"]

What's even the point of living with a life like that?

Head_of_games

They certainly won't grow up to be businesswomen considering they will have gone the first 18 years of their life without developing social skills. They might be successful researchers but they still might be miserable with no friends.