Yep, I coined that term here, “Eagle Mother”. (How do you like my choice of animal?)
So, what is an Eagle Mother, you ask?
Well, an Eagle Mother is an American mother (of any ethnic background) who recognizes the importance of her child’s education and fully assumes the role of training her child in the manner that he should go. Sound familiar? Now, let’s break that down even further…An Eagle Mother works tirelessly to provide opportunities and environments in order to maximize her child’s potential. She frequently, if not almost always, puts her child’s interests before her own. She desires that her child would receive the best education possible and recognizes that a quality education has many forms and appearances. She finds the right balance of commitment to studies to other aspect’s of the child’s life. The hope for her would then be that that education which was so heavily invested in and where so many sacrifices were made would then be used by her child to have a positive influence on society. (There will be more to this definition.)
Notice that the focus is on the Eagle Mother and not the child. She is constantly evaluating her practice and tactics of child-rearing and will make adjustments as necessary along the way. Do I believe I’m an Eagle Mother? I sure hope so!
I’ve been studying the Asian culture and their parenting styles a bit more. I’m sure you’re familiar with Amy Chua and her controversial book on child rearing so no need to hang out there.
Here’s what I’m thinking…Let’s get our own mantra going. By that, I mean the American mothers who have high expectations and tough love for our own kids should have a voice for how hard we are working at this child-rearing thing. Let’s start a movement in our culture that demands more from both American parents and children, and get rid of our less-than-stellar image among the international world that we are failing at education and parenting.
Amy Chua’s book is an interesting read, but beyond that, I don’t really care what she did. She has an Asian influence in her background. I do not. So, I’m simply going off of what my gut is telling me to do, and it is that I should be an Eagle mother.
In that same vein, I was teaching my son at 10:00 tonight, and it’s Friday. Don’t worry. It’s a necessary thing as Hubby and I hope to be taking a tropical vacation soon, so I need to cover a bit more academically before then. Yes, I need a break.  But, no doubt, the kids will have studies to cover while we are traveling:)
Of note, I made pork chops in the crockpot. They were disgusting and smelled like dog food. So over this cooking thing!