Remember that the governor of PA wrote that "we were a nation of wusses" when they cancelled the Eagles game on 12/26 due to the noreaster? He said the Chinese would have marched to the game doing calculus while they marched.

I think there is a school of thought that our attitudes that everything will be fine and we are entitled to a good life, however we get there, is the main problem. We want medicare and social security but do not want to pay for it.

We want a good life, but don't make me the one to sacrifice. And it scares me that the opportunities that were pretty plentiful when I was growing up was an abberation. They didn't exist for the average child in 1900 and will continue to diminish in availability as we go forward.

I posted a response to Jacks'mom, who graduated Harvard medical school and commented on the lack of ability, aside from rote memorization of her Asian counterparts in medicine. My response was, yeah, like Sanjay Gupta. Here is a classic example of immigrant Asian parents pushing their child into science, technology -- like fields where they got jobs -- got his 2 degrees in 7 years. Was he the only brilliant neurosurgeon? But his work ethic gave him opportunities, and he had the ambition to pursue them. And he seems like a pretty happy guy.

One example, but I only have the famous to choose from. LangLang has told horrid stories about his father pushing him but he did perform with his father at Carnegie Hall, he loves his career and is now happy that his father did push. He spoke how difficult the teenage years are for prodigies, I know 2 who quit in their teenage years, one was a protogee of Bernstein and performed with the Pops very young. Langlang talks about how his father pushed him through those difficult times and he has probably one of the most brilliant classical music careers ever.

I think that the children of immigrant parents generally push themselves more, get the grades, push for success their parents expect in education and now seem to take most of the spots in professional and post grad schools. In my most humble opinion, the children of successful parents generally are pretty lazy, have low expectations from their parents about working hard so that their habits become hardly working. In DH's circle of Harvard and Yale grads, very few have their kids accepted to those schools, except one family -- Jewish, but more on the "Chinese" model than the western.

I spoke to a mother yesterday about the article, she had read it. She is Harvard undergrad, Columbia law. Her daughter is in an accelerated gifted program. She said she is mixed about the view. Her daughter does violin and ballet, and the rest of the time is homework. She also thinks there are growing limited options and she thinks the "Chinese" model has better outcomes for the child.

Except for the anecdotal, are these children are happy or not happy when they grow up?. In general, how do you actually measure who is happier? I do know that when DD and I get over the fights at the piano when she plays a new piece, and she gets it (just like the story in the article) she goes to the piano and plays it on her own. She loves to get dressed up and perform at the recital or concert. Her self esteem grows significantly when she accomplishes something that she first fought me on and then worked through and achieved. Way more than the things she could more easily do and found "fun".

I also think, another one of my most humble opinions, that a child that challenges themselve, learns the behavior. Learns the reward of the challenge. DD challenged herself very young because she wanted something, like climbing up to a slide -- and the steps were more than half her height but now she is too logical and too spoiled to push herself. Though it seems that as she has learned the challenge of learning more complicated pieces, or practicing the back bend everyday for gymnastics, she is fighting me less and push herself more. Maybe I will get to that self motivated kid. If it happens, I will post.

Ren