Are you ready for the next book?

As much as I can't stand Amy Chua, her book has left me wondering if even though her practices were too harsh if maybe her philosophy was right. Should we be pushing our children harder and helping them to achieve more? Are we holding them back, by not expecting more of them? I haven't sorted it all out yet and I'm not sure that I ever will. I have come up with a book to read though, that will provide a nice contrast to Amy Chua's parenting philosophies and forceful parenting methods. The book we will be reading for March is . . . The Blessing of a Skinned Knee by Wendy Mogel. We'll be back here to discuss it on March 25.

1-2-3 Go!

The time has come! This is it. Are we ready to discuss the book? Has everyone read it? I hope you have. I wish we could all be together in someone's home having dinner and chocolate cake while we discuss the book. Instead I'm frantically trying to write a post so we can begin. It's Friday and Erin Leigh is home sick, Mike is also home, and we are getting ready to head out to Mallory's waterpolo game. Mike has just said, "You should have done that blog last night." He is right and I should have so I apologize that I am not more organized. I want this to be fun and low key, and that no one feels like they have to write an official book report or summation. That is unless you want to.

With that being said, and also being pressed for time, and new at this book club blog forum, I am going to express in a single sentence how I felt about this woman, her book and her methods.

I THINK AMY CHAU'S CHILDREN, PARTICULARLY LULU, COULD FILE A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST THEIR MOTHER FOR STEALING THEIR CHILDHOOD!

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with Amy Chau? Did you like her? Could you appreciate her methods? Did you feel sorry for Lulu? What about Sophia?What did you think of her husband? What did you think of her mother in-law? Do you think it is right for a child to practice 6 hours a day on their instruments after they have already attended school? Should a mother be so demanding? What did you think about her calling her children trash and rejecting their birthday cards? What about her dreams for Coco their dog?

Wasn't it interesting when she said, "I'm not good at enjoying life." And what about when she said this about children: "If you force them to do what you want, you don't have to be mad at them."

Obviously there is much to discuss. I've got to go because "there's no time girls," but I hope everyone joins in and shares their thoughts. I'm looking forward to reading what everyone thinks, and will return tonight to comment again and again, I am sure. Here's to our book club everyone. Let the comments begin.

Welcome to Book Club

Hey everyonhe and welcome to Book Club. We're excited to get this blog going and start reading and discussing books. Leslie and I have talked about it and we think that this is how the blog will work . . .

1. I will be the blog administrator (basically that job is over now), but anyone who participates in our book club, will be a blog author, which means that you can log in and write a post.

2. Each month we'll take turns playing, "hostess." The hostess will choose the book for the month and then write a post about the book at the end of the month and the rest of will leave comments.
3. So leave a comment with your email address or email me (Catherine) at catherineguteATaolDOTcom, so we can add you as an author.

For those of you ready to get reading, our February book will be, "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" by Amy Chua. Leslie and I both felt like this would be a good place to start since most of us have all been discussing it. Do we have any volunteers to host March?