Doting Dad

Since 1979 the Chinese government has insisted that its citizens will only have one child. The one-child law has received plenty of attention, especially when it comes to the adoption of little (supposedly "unwanted") little Chinese girls by people in the U.S. I suspect that the incentive to make these daughters-of-China available to potential parents in the U.S. has more to do with economics than a gender preference, although there is something to be said for parental expectations in terms of whether they will raise a boy or a girl; given the quota of one child for your entire lifetime, I find myself sympathetic without condoning a straight-out gender preference.
However, before I get too far off on a tangent, this post is not about gender so much as it is about doting parents. The little boys in China are popularly known as "Little Emperors" (小皇帝: xiao huangdi) because their parents put their full and complete energy into raising them with every ounce of their being. I saw this first-hand the other day on the bus when a young boy of about 10 years of age and his father got on one stop after me. All the seats were taken, but the father found a good spot for his son to stand and then proceeded to stand behind his son in a protective stance to make sure the boy didn't get jostled too much as the bus lurched and swayed down the avenue.
The man and his son got off the bus one stop before me and I watched out of the corner of my eye as the man steadied his son poised toward the exit, then hanging on to him and I suppose telling him to wait until the bus slowed down before they headed for the door. Then, as the bus came to a sudden halt, the father lost his footing slightly and ended up knocking his son to the floor of the bus. It was the last thing the man meant to do, but he lost control. The son looked embarrassed beyond belief, quickly picked himself up and they both shuttled themselves off the bus. I watched out the window as the man tried to make amends with his son, reaching to give the boy an encouraging pat on the back. But the boy would have no more of this father's doting, and pulled himself away repeatedly.
In the U.S., this would be seen as nothing more than an example of an overbearing parent, but in the context of the 30 year old birthing restriction in China, it is common enough I'm sure. As for little girls in China, there are plenty of them and they are doted on all the same. Amy Chua's "Tiger Mother" book, and accompanying article in the WSJ, has received plenty of attention for a Chinese mother's role as the Rule Enforcer, and on the bus I saw the mother's counterpart: the doting dad who would give the world to his baby, even if it means he sometimes loses his own footing in the process.