Turns out I’m a little bit Chinese.

Amy Chua is making news lately thanks to her controversial new book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Chua is accused of promoting the idea that Chinese moms and their techniques are superior to Western parenting styles.

But the truth is, like pesky Christians who believe Harry Potter encourages devil worship, those getting upset and offended obviously haven’t read the book.

Tiger Mother documents Chua’s struggle to raise two daughters according to the strict example of her immigrant parents. In theory, emulating her Chinese parents should be a good idea. After all, Chua is a law professor at Yale and her two sisters are equally successful. The youngest, with Down syndrome, is a multiple gold-medal winner in Special Olympics.

But Chua’s young daughters are a blend of cultures, her husband is Jewish, and two generations removed from the “homeland.” When Chua’s youngest daughter, Lulu, rebels, Chua has to rethink her ideas and is ultimately humbled.

I know from experience, writing about parenting issues always offends someone. Lots of shitty parents mistakenly believe they are doing their best and hope just the desire for happy kids means something. It doesn’t. A parent’s intent is irrelevant. Those who raise nightmares for the rest of us should read books like Tiger Mother before they take the condoms off. Maybe it would help. If moms and dads choose to tackle parenting unprepared and half-assed, they should learn to handle criticism.

This article appears in Jan 27 – Feb 2, 2011.