the tiger cub speaks! in defense of her strict chinese mom

You've heard from the Tiger Mother... now hear from the Tiger Cub! In a new wrinkle to this saga, the New York Post has published an exclusive piece by 18-year-old Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld, the eldest daughter of Amy Chua, with her side of this controversial parenting story: Why I love my strict Chinese mom.

She admits that having Chua for a mom wasn't a ball (shocker), but also says she's grateful that her mother's Hardass Asian Parenting methods raised her to be an independent thinker who makes the most of new opportunities. She also mentions the infamous birthday incident, and cops to making a crappy card:

Dear Tiger Mom,

You've been criticized a lot since you published your memoir, "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother." One problem is that some people don't get your humor. They think you're serious about all this, and they assume Lulu and I are oppressed by our evil mother. That is so not true. Every other Thursday, you take off our chains and let us play math games in the basement.

But for real, it’s not their fault. No outsider can know what our family is really like. They don’t hear us cracking up over each other's jokes. They don’t see us eating our hamburgers with fried rice. They don’t know how much fun we have when the six of us - dogs included - squeeze into one bed and argue about what movies to download from Netflix.

I admit it: Having you as a mother was no tea party. There were some play dates I wish I’d gone to and some piano camps I wish I’d skipped. But now that I'm 18 and about to leave the tiger den, I’m glad you and Daddy raised me the way you did. Here's why.

She sounds... well, normal. And quite intelligent. Normal and intelligent (and actually pretty funny) in spite of having a crazy-ass mom. Though, I haven't read the book, but I believe Sophia is described as the daughter that fell in line with Chua's hardass parenting, while the younger daughter Louisa, aka "Lulu," was the one who openly rebelled. I'd be curious to hear from her too.

Nice to see the cub speaking out on behalf of mom -- I get the feeling the essay went through a rigorous editing process, under parental supervision. It certainly won't hurt sales of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.

None of this actually makes me re-think my opinions on the original "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior" article. It just makes me relieved that this girl sounds relatively well-adjusted... so far.