I'm A Proud Strict Mom And, You

When I'm Not The Tiger Mom, I'm A Professor At Yale Law School, And If One Thing Is Clear To Me From Years Of Teaching, It's That There Are Many Ways To Produce Fabulous Kids. I Have Amazing Students; Some Of Them Have Strict Parents, Others Have Lenient Parents, And Many Come From Family Situations That Defy Easy Description.

There Are All Kinds Of Psychological Disorders In The West That Don't Exist In Asia.

I Once Won A Second Prize In A History Concert. My Parents Came To The Ceremony. Somebody Else Had Won The Prize For Best All-around Student. Afterwards My Father Said To Me, 'never, Ever Disgrace Me Like That Again.' When I Tell My Western Friends, They Are Aghast. But I Adore My Father. It Didn't Knock My Self-esteem At All.

I Think The Biggest Difference Is That I've Noticed Western Parents Seem Much More Concerned About Their Children's Psyches, Their Self-esteem, Whereas Tough Immigrant Parents Assume Strength Rather Than Fragility In Their Children And Therefore Behave Completely Differently.

I Was Raised, Myself, By Extremely Strict But Also Extremely Loving Chinese Immigrant Parents. To This Day, I Believe That Their Having High Expectations For Me, Coupled With Love, Was The Greatest Gift That Anyone's Ever Given Me. And So That's Why, Even Though My Husband Is Not Chinese, I Try To Raise My Own Two Daughters The Same Way.