Battle Hymm of the Crazy Mother!

A few months ago I heard about a controversial book on Chinese mothers and how they raise their children. The idea sounded so interesting I immediately purchased the book on iTunes. It sat in my library for months until I finished reading a few other books. It was time to pick a new book so I looked through my library and found it. Let me tell you, I could not put the damn thing down. It is a super easy read, not intimidating at all. The chapters are short and the book is a mere 250 pages.

At first I was glued to the book because I despised the author. I thought, and still think, she is an overbearing mother who pushes her children too far. That being said, by the end of the book I found myself sympathizing with her and rooting her on. I'm not sure exactly when I flipped sides but I can seriously say I was cursing this woman's name for a solid 200 pages. She never abused her children by any means, but she was mean and cruel to her daughters. Calling them names, demeaning them, and treating them like they are disappointments. I really did not like that she called her parenting style "Chinese parenting" while everyone else in the world (with a few exceptions) were Westerners. First of all, every individual parent is different from every other one. I'm not a mother yet, but I do work with children and I know that I have to change teaching techniques to each individual child's needs. And I only have them for 6 hours a day! So calling everyone else Westerners really bothered me.

I didn't decide to write a blog on this book to bash the author. Quite frankly I think she got enough shit when the book first came out. I am here to recommend all of you read it. While I don't understand or agree with her parenting style, I do respect it. Hey the woman has insanely intelligent, musically gifted, kind, independent daughters. Had she not been the way she was with them, they may have been mediocre children.

So if you get a chance splurge the $9.99 and buy the book. I'm telling you if you're a woman you will go nuts, if you're a mother you'll scream, but if you really just want another perspective on a different culture's parenting style this is the book to read.

EMM