Watch CBS News

Esme's Blog: Mommy Wars

By Esme Murphy, WCCO-TV

A friend sent me this article from the WSJ entitled "Why Chinese Mother's are Superior." In it, Yale Professor Amy Chua boasts her two daughters have never been allowed to:

• 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.

The article goes on with a defense of calling children "garbage" and describes an all-out battle with her 7-year-old who was having trouble mastering a piano piece. The article has prompted thousands of comments online and across the Internet. It should come as no surprise that Chua has something to sell. She is about to come out with a book entitled "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother."

I suppose since I have allowed my kids to do all on the forbidden list, (even letting them choose their own extra-curricular activities) I am an inferior mother. Coming from Amy Chua being called "an inferior mother" would be a complement.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.