<p>Can’t post a link as The Times (UK) has gone behind a pay wall but two Beijing girls have written a guide of techniques of to combat those ferocious TMs, complete with diagrams,. Unfortunately I can’t include the latter - my favourite of which illustrates technique 13: “After a scolding you can sing a song, eg “Mum is a little pumpkin.” Required temperament: hard. Note: use sparingly.” But have pasted a part of the article below.</p>
<p>A pair of Beijing schoolgirls, already masters of manipulation at the tender age of 10, have unleashed a daring counter-attack against Tiger Mothers and Wolf Dads – the pushy, discipline-crazed blight of children across China.</p>
<p>What The Complete Book of Combat With Mum lacks in presentational polish, it generously compensates for with Machiavellian guile. For every tenet of ferocious parental doctrine described in Amy Chua’s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Chen Leshui and her friend have a practical or devious solution.</p>
<p>Written in biro on a scraggy notebook, aimed at children between 6 and 12 and illustrated with crude diagrams of each “trick”, the guide catalogues precisely how to navigate the relentless lectures and chastisements of everyday life. Despite their simplicity, the pictures exactly capture the savagery of a Tiger Mother in full cry: a domineering powder-keg of ambition.</p>
<p>Glowing with pride at his daughter’s subversive cunning, Ms Chen’s father uploaded the guide to China’s equivalent of Twitter where it has been eagerly devoured and forwarded tens of thousands of times. State television has further drawn attention to the two girls’ work, alluringly describing it as a collection of “secret tips”.</p>
<p>Can I get a translation on Mum is a Little Pumpkin - Is this a common childhood song? An insult to the woman’s weight? Perhaps even and insult to her intelligence? Or something that would be obvious to the Chinese, but I’m just not clued in?</p>
<p>Oh, I had a far simpler solution for my wolfish dad…simply bring home HS report cards full of Cs, Ds, and Fs with a smattering of Bs. </p>
<p>Follow up by not showing any grade reports to him for the next 8-10 years…even after gaining admission to a reputable college and excelling there academically. :p</p>
<p>Granted…the college part was only feasible because neither of my parents paid a cent to defray college expenses thanks to a near-full ride scholarship and my working part-time/summers to pay the difference.</p>
<p>Youre welcome, MDdad2012! I hope US media picks up this story as the Tiger Mom book generated much more coverage there than here in the UK. Ive got no clue about the pumpkin song the illustration shows bendy legged child bouncing and whistling insouciantly, enraged Mum shouting. I imagine its the attitude that counts here, rather than the actual song.</p>
<p>Another idea that’ll definitely raise the hackles of such parents…especially those with classical music obsessions:</p>
<p>Pick up an electric bass, guitar, and/or drums and form a rock band…especially punk rock!! The more loud, brash, and displeasing to ears more used to Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, and Brahms…the better.</p>
<p>My successful strategy: have a younger brother who was a total delinquent/hoodlum. That worked GREAT. My Chinese parents were like deer in headlights, poor things.</p>
<p>Not an athlete and it wouldn’t have mattered considering my LAC’s athletics are Div III. </p>
<p>I think it was mainly the following factors:</p>
<p>Almost all of those poor grades were in the first two years and my grades had a general upward trend…especially in my last two years. However, my father never saw those improved grade reports. </p>
<p>Decent application essays about volunteer activities and growing up Asian-American in a mostly White/Latino urban working-class neighborhood.</p>
<p>Attending an urban public math/science magnet high school with a great rep and where many students tend to head off to respectable universities with strong STEM programs…especially pre-med, CS, and engineering. As a result, elite/well-reputed colleges/universities tend to dip deeper into our graduating classes for admits…especially LACs that are not top 8-10 and/or some that were formerly Women’s Colleges(i.e. Vassar). </p>
<p>Grew up as a trailing member of Gen X so college admissions weren’t nearly as competitive as they are nowadays.</p>
<p>Yes, LongPrime, that’s it. I’m glad you posted the Guardian link. I did just want to point out that the Guardian article refers to the writers of the guide as ‘teens’ but according to The Times, they are schoolgirls, ten year olds.</p>
<p>I could never see the slightest humourous thing about any “Tiger Mother.” To me, they are just vicious, selfish people who are ruining the world with their packaged projects.</p>