The Chinese mothering style article

So there was an article in Time magazine about a woman who was Chinese and raised her daughters in that cultural mindset. Her husband is American. It was an interesting article in that she stated so we praise mediocrity in this country now and that is why we are behind in education. We praise the "losers". Everyone wins. No one is cut from the team, no one is allowed to fail in school.

Yet America strives to win it all. While I am not like the mom in the article that stands over her 7 yr old and says no dinner or going to bed until you have that scale right on the violin. If I know they have the ability and talent-then expectations are a good thing and I would have to agree with this mom. I may get knocked for saying that-but structure and discipline helps us all to find success later in life. It gives us the ability to get up on time bc we are committed to what we do. It helps us see that when we work hard at something there are tangible results. I am far from perfect-but someone once told me that they thought that the dad picked friends based on habits and hobbies. While I have no idea, his daughter has excelled in her area of skill.

You may ask, what prompted this....as I watched Keira in a different class tonight in gymnastics I realized that when our kids learn a skill and we want them to progress-we must do our part. She was too busy goofing off in the other class because she had too much free time. This make up class gave her no free time and she worked hard and progressed thru skills I did not know she even had the strength for. When she was skipping the lunges-I pointed it out to her and she stepped up and did them all out. Expectations.....kids will rise above them....

hopefully in the end I don't screw up my kids-but when they succeed at something they have been trying so hard at-the smile on their face is so worth it! the lesson they learn when they lose helps them to work harder for the next time....

I am glad I had the chance to be a mom...it maybe hard like 5 doctor's appointments in one day today, etc. But the lessons I have learned from them are priceless.

My thoughts on that article about the blogs

So I am going to try and return to the blogging world....not sure if that will be successful...I am just now catching up to my life...not in cyberspace...

I hear the life a a mormon mommy is pretty and fun and glamourous...

Can I have that life?

I will be 39 this year and mine has never been the way these mormon mommy blogs are described...My life is not a gap commercial-my girls are not always perfectly dressed with perfect hair. My husband is usually in baseball clothes when he gets home from work, and well my son is a walking hollister ad-but that is his doing not mine. My daughter is an athlete who likes ponytails and tennis shoes and dirt. She takes nothing from the mean girls at school and has the sweetest side to her that I love.

My seven year old will be a fashion designer one day-and I love her style and creativity...

And that bear...well we will see.....

Does anyone not like to read-hey my life is normal and kids are normal and when it gets hard-I know I will get through this because someone before me did something just like it....

I can take courage in that....

I am inspired by that...those women I know who work so hard day in and day out to raise their families while their husbands work hard to support them while they are working away from the home a lot. I know it is hard. I know it is exhausting. But the world does not give an praise for that....

There is no break for a woman who stays home and raises kids and her husband is working out of town or long hours...her job NEVER ends.

The housework never ends....Those that have jobs as well-it is even harder. These woman are the ones that hold our society together and are setting an example for the next generation. To not be weak but to be strong and kind hearted all at the same time. It is across all spectrums that I find these woman. So to them I pay tribute today. Life is not always beautiful.... but it is a beautiful ride.....