Yesterday while waiting for food to settle down before a workout, I watched the second half of the Oprah show. I guess the show was about how parents, especially mothers, affect their children's, especially daughters', self-esteem and self-image in a very negative way. The cycle of negativity continues generation after generation unless someone breaks the cycle. More often than not, the younger generation displays extreme image problems... which leads to things from depression to eating disorder which is evidently more common than I thought. This of course led me to think about the daughters and their mothers in my life. Chinese parents are infamous for their honesty with their children. They will tell you like it is and in some cases exaggerate imperfections to HELP you to become what they preceive as a better and happier person. Nobody should claim to know what will make another person happier, since most people do a lousy job of predicting what would make themselves happy to begin with. And frankly nothing makes a person more unhappy than knowing how unhappy her parents are with her appearance, choices, life... So unless we all want our children to be successful and yet miserable people (see biographies for many famous mathematicians), maybe we should stop that cycle. The more I watch shows like this or witness parenting in real life, the more I understand the challenges of being a good parent, and the more I feel that I am far from ready for that task. People often say that there is never a good time to have kids. I know for sure though there is a better time for me in the future, as I am seeing and learning and growing everyday.