January 21, 2016 THEY SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY

I hate my birthday. What kind of weirdo hates their birthday??  I'm pretty sure I've hated it for a long time for various reasons. Family problems for one. It was  hard to feel happy about my birthday when it wasn't even acknowledged by important family members. Hello, did you forget??  Was I really so unimportant?? That really put a damper on the day so it was better to ignore it as much as possible. Today, I still try to ignore it as much as possible for other reasons. I really don't like getting older--looking older--feeling older--the WHOLE SHEBANG-- and my birthday is just ONE more reminder that I REALLY AM getting older. How can that be??  CAN'T I JUST LIVE IN  DENIAL--that really is my modus operandi.  THAT'S HOW I SURVIVE. If I ignore it--it won't happen right?? I get the older wiser thing, but  I'd rather be dumber and younger--VANITY and all that nonsense. My poor family has even learned to keep it on the down low--no cake or celebration--for me. I did have a great run though--the weather was  beautiful--48 degrees and sunny--and that was birthday present enough for me. I am a pretty low maintenance person in many respects--very different in every way from Amy Chua the author of the best selling book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. 

First of all, I wish I were a little more like Amy Chua but that's never going to happen. Chua is a professor of law at Yale University who has written several books. She wrote Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother in 2011 in an effort to share her "authoritarian parenting style" to show why Asian children are so successful. Chua, herself, is a tiger mother of two very successful daughters. She and her husband raised their daughters to respect authority, in a strict household where the "pursuit of excellence" was expected. Chua demanded that her children excel because that was what they were supposed to do. Long practice sessions with respected teachers in music were the norm. Constant drill work and study sessions were necessary because mediocre grades were unacceptable. Chua believed that "western parents" were too indulgent and permissive and she would have none of that "tainting" her daughters. This book was highly entertaining--at times very funny--but also shocking. Read it yourself to find out why. Like I said before--I wish I had a quarter of Chua's personality as I am one of those "western parents" who can be too indulgent and permissive at times. Anyways, it's a pretty easy read of about 250 pages or a 3 mile run that might have you rethinking your parenting or maybe not?