Chinese parents have the tendency to set standards high on children education. And we tend to keep raising the bar, sometimes, to an unrealistic level.
I borrowed a book of Mrs. Clinton’s autobiography last year. At one paragraph, I could not stop laughing, not because the book itself was funny, but I saw a similarity in my own family. She stated in the book that since she was very young her father kept raising the bar to a higher level that she thought she could never be able to reach. I went to my son and said, “You’ll have to read this.” He laughed, too, and said, “My dad is so much like her dad. Just as I almost reach it, he raises it higher.” My husband had his theory, “Well, it is good for you. Right?” My son responded with what made me ponder. He said, “But it’s so easy to give up on things that you realize you can never reach.”
That made me picture this. A father holds out a ball to his side to encourage his little boy to catch. The boy jumps excitedly in hope of getting it in a few attempts. The father lifts his arm higher as the boy tries harder. The higher the ball goes, the dimmer the hope becomes. The initial excitement gradually shifts into frustration as the tired little boy gasps for air, lags after each try, eventually throws himself onto the ground and gives up after all.
