Everyone’s parents are special in many different aspects, but it’s difficult to deny that there’s a strong stereotype for Asian parents. Besides expecting stellar grades and wanting you to get into a good college, there are other traditions, or habits, that a lot of Asian parents have. This list consists of what I think most Asian parents tend to do all the time:
1. Collecting hundreds of plastic bags from the grocery stores
2. Fruit knocking to make sure the fruit is ripe
3. Using rice as an alternative for glue
4. Refilling bottles with sauces
5. The fridge is always filled with sauce packets from different restaurants
6. Bundling you up in clothing while insisting it's cold outside
7. Desserts come in the form of fruits
8. They compare you to their friends' children
9. The fridge is a jungle filled with food from the last few months
10. No shoes are allowed in the house
11. They make sure you take piano lessons at least once in your lifetime (No, really every Asian kid has played piano at least once in their life
12. They tell stories of their struggles to make you feel guilty
13. Open the cupboards and it’s like you’re at an Asian cuisine, it’s filled with different spices and sauces from all over Asia.
14. Drama nights
15. They refill plastic water bottles with tap water, while telling you “it’s cleaner than the water they sell!”
16. Along with the plastic bags, a collection of read newspapers are kept also
17. Reusing school paperwork for scrap paper
18. Instrument lessons = Not for you to become a musician
19. They keep the plastic wrap on the TVs to keep it clean
20. Their cuss words are hilarious
21. There’s always plentiful amount of ramen noodles in the house
22. They somehow find a way to Asianize every Western dish
23. They assume your opposite sex friend is your boyfriend/girlfriend
24. Mumbling complaints about you under their breath
25. A bamboo stick backscratcher is always kept handy
26. Their lectures are painfully long
27. Having three meals with rice
28. They stress you about the SAT
29. Their dream job for you is either a doctor or an engineer
30. The oven is rarely used
31. There’s a huge collection of teas and herbs
32. At least five things in the house have flower prints on them
33. Christmas isn’t as jolly
34. Birthdays aren’t that special
35. They have continuous rants about you on the phone with relatives
36. There’s a huge collection of metal chopsticks and spoons (the wooden ones are often used outside/occasionally)
37. No stereotypical “family nights”
38. Tacky accessories
39. Yelling at the GPS
40. If there’s a 1+1 sale on something, they buy it even though they don’t need it
41. Eating all the samples at Costco or at any other grocery store
42. Sport lessons = Not to become an athlete
43. Doing research on colleges and universities
44. Interrogating you during a movie
45. They judge hardcore
46. When you have a stomach ache, they sing while rubbing your stomach to make it feel better.
47. They stare at you while you eat
48. With any allowance you receive, they insist on them keeping it
49. They have a hard time showing their affection for you
50. They wish for the best
