Oppenheimer Throws Down (A Little) With Amy Chua

Well, I am not the only one glad Amy Chua is not my mom. And, as the father of three girls, I am glad to have parental street cred to opine about her.

Many of you will have heard tell of the Wall Street Journal excerpt from Amy Chua's new book, in which she discusses her "Chinese mother" style of parenting. Disclaimer #1: Amy and I both get a paycheck from Yale University, but I have never met her. #2: I think we are neighbors, and I think I once saw her playing tennis at the court next to mine, but I have never met her. OK, on to the article, which makes the case for building kids' self-esteem not by coddling them (a la those Western parents!) but by setting high expectations. Nothing too controversial so far—but let's see it in action, in the case of a difficult piano selection for her daughter Lulu:

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