Friday, February 25, 2011

Tiger Mom

Pat was reading an article about the Tiger mom. He sarcastically said to me "maybe you should get this book to read". I asked him what it was about and immediately said "and why do you think I am interested in this?".

Has anyone read anything about the Tiger Mom? This is the article I read. Before actually reading anything, I immediately thought she sounded cruel and uncaring. I thought to myself "At what cost would you pay for your child/children to be successful"?

I have hopes and dreams for Liv. I would like her to, above all, be a caring, empathetic, and all around good person. I would also love for her to be successful in whatever path she chooses. The scary part is, what path will she choose? I have no idea. Maybe she'll want to play hockey like her dad, maybe she'll be the gymnast or dancer that my mom had wanted for my sister and I, maybe she'll follow in my footsteps and play basketball and run track, OR what if she decides to make her own path? I would be ok with that.

There are a lot of different kinds of parenting styles. I wouldn't cast myself into any one of them. I am very strict about some things, such as when I say 'no', I mean it. I wouldn't consider myself in the least bit "cruncy", yet I made all of Liv's baby food for her. I did it because I enjoyed it and so did she.
My daughter had her bottle until she was 18 months old. We are going on week three without the bottle. That would seem very soft to some people, but I just felt she wasn't ready...and I wasn't ready.

I let my daughter watch elmo, sesame street, yo gabba gabba and whatever other show I think is ok. However, you will never see her watching spongebob or hannah montana.
I read a lot of blogs. No mother on any of the blogs I read, parents exactly the same. I still am inspired by all of them. Even though I don't think I would ever use cloth diapers, shop all organic, make my daughter practice piano for 'x' amount of hours, or not allow her to watch tv. I still appreciate why they do it.

My point is, I don't think there is a wrong or right parenting style. I think every mom does what they see fit. I think we all share a common goal of wanting our children to have the best support they need to become the best person/people they can become.


isn't this what we all want? A big smile on their faces :)

1 comment:

  1. I read a different article the other day about the Tiger Mom. Although I think she was a bit extreme, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing if more parents were like her.

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