It was while reading the 50th of more than 4000 comments on Amy Chua's Wall Street Journal article, "Why Chinese Mothers are Superior," that I began contemplating my own upbringing. Chua divulges the secret to children's success is a life monitored by discipline, perfect grades and excellence in every activity-- with no traces of enabling, affection or sleepovers in sight. She lists the following as forbidden activities for her two "stereotypically successful" daughters, Sophia and Louisa: attend a sleepover have a playdate be in a school play complain about not being in a school play watch TV or play computer games choose their own extracurricular activities get any grade less than an A not be the No. 1 student in every subject except gym and drama play any instrument other than the piano...

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