Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom by Amy Chua, 2011

...is really funny!  Tongue in cheek memoir written by one (high achieving Yale Law professor) Chinese-American's take on raising her two daughters, Sophia & Lulu.

She sets high standards, not buying into the 'Western' way of parenting that every child deserves a ribbon & should explore their every heart's desire since they are special snow flakes.

The book & Chua got a lot of backlash, but I imagine it's from people who only read the blurb that talks about how Chua did not allow her daughters to go on sleepovers (true because her daughter came home crabby & exhausted after attending one) & forced her daughter in the snow without a jacket for refusing to practice her violin (she did this for a minute before accepting defeat & admitting it was a bluff). 

Similar to Lean In, if people had actually read the book, they would have understood the message.  For some reason, books about motherhood result in visceral & passionate reactions just from the jacket summaries.

Chua was very strict with her daughters & made them practice their respective instruments for hours each day, even on vacation.  Her children loved their instruments though, which provided feelings of accomplishment & confidence when performing, including a performance at Carnegie Hall & international music festival.

She also makes the point that it is hard work to be a 'Tiger Mom'  - the hours driving her children to & from lessons, the notes she takes to help them improve, being 'hated' for her strictness & the opportunities she makes for them to excel.  I realized at this point, I am too lazy to be a Tiger Mom.

Her method 'worked' with her two daughters attending Harvard & speaking of their love for their family & happy upbringing.

One of the funnier moments is when Chua realizes her pet dog is not picking up on basic tricks like catch & fetch.  She finally realizes that he has trouble with his eyesight & rushes him to the vet, who declares that his eyesight is perfectly fine...he is just not the brightest, over-achieving dog Chua was expecting.