[quote=flu]So damn annoying….. The ones that go “my kid this, my kid that. my kid is brilliant…blah blah blah blah blah”.

…How about a nice dose of STFU…..

That is all.

FLU, boycotting the tiger mom/dad scene…..[/quote]
You probably saw the Joy Luck Club scene about competitive parenting. Kinda funny to watch, but it must be annoying to have a talk with these parents. And it must be hell for their kids!

FLU: Get into coaching youth sports (esp. football and baseball) and you’ll have the unfettered joy of dealing with these parents EVERY day and on the weekends! Wheeeee.

flu–next time you find yourself in a conversation like that, you could casually mention to these “tiger parents,” that only time will tell how well their children will actually do in the “real world.”

Controlled family and school environments lend themselves to great accomplishments. When you throw in the wild card of the real world, sadly, many kids crash and burn because their parents did not prepare them for any circumstances beyond their control.

Having raised kids in a very competitive environment in RSF, and seeing how our kids and their friends actually turned out, I can tell you the stats on success are underwhelming.

Thankfully, our kids have done well–I believe, because, although we encouraged and rewarded peak performance in all things, we also raised them with a huge dose of reality.

A large percentage of their friends are definitely not living the lives of their dreams, so if I were the tiger moms and dads–I’d probably wait awhile to pop the champagne cork–at the very least until their kids get “the job” and buy “the house,” or whatever else defines success to them.

“Only time will tell.” If you see her in ice skating competitions on TV, I guess her Mom’s efforts will have paid off.

Everyone thinks their kids are going to be “stars” at something. Our kids were into school, golf, tennis, baseball, football, basketball, ice skating, horseback riding, music, etc., etc., and excelled in all–and this was long before the “tiger parent” revolution.

Eventually they had to decide what they wanted to do in real life–and that’s when you know for sure if your parenting efforts have really paid off. They seemed to for our kids, because all are self-sufficient–in their desired professions.

Apart from all parental efforts, there are many “wild cards” in life, and from the real life examples I’ve seen, there appears to be about a 50/50 chance kids will achieve what they want to achieve and succeed in the “real world.”

Another example of how one of the “wild cards” of life can hit you at any age. Sorry to hear about that. Have heard many stories of people losing it all at 50+ and never recovering–but that’s probably another thread.

With kids, just starting out, it really has to be a shocker if life doesn’t work out the way Mom and Dad promised it would–hence my belief in letting them know about the “real world” and how it could effect them–long before it becomes an issue in their lives.

As an example, we have many friends who, as flu mentioned, bragged about their kids perfection each and everytime we saw them for years and years.

Now that the kids are finished with college, and it’s time to face “real life,” they don’t even want to discuss them–because, apparently, things didn’t work out, and there’s nothing to brag about now. Sad.

It’s really tough parenting in CV with the tiger parents. And it only gets worse and more cut-throat as the kids get older…and those parents will do ANYTHING to get their kids a leg up on the “competition”. I’ve seen it all already, and my kid is just entering high school. Nasty. And what awful role models for their kids.

Look on the bright side, they keep the School API scores up so you can sell your house to yet another tiger-parent and they can continue the process.
It’s the New American way..
Helicopter parents and Tigers-parents.
In Sweden I hear they have camps to toughen their kids up (Fear they are getting too soft).
You drop your hot dog while cooking it over an open fire, you pick it up out of the dirt or go hungry.
When I talk to my Older colleagues (first gen emigrants from Asia), they tell me of sleeping several to a room to survive while working their way through college (don’t think it is the same today).