Battle hymn of a Supermom. Why Chinese-Canadian mothers are superior.

One Sunday afternoon, I found Luca alone in the familyroom, playing Wii.
"Hey Luca," I watch Mario hop across the screen, "what world are you in?"
"World 3. I'm trying to get through the junior Bowser castle.."
"What? You're only there?"
"Yeah, it's so hard to get past Bowser. I can't-"
"No, Luca. Can't is not in our vocabulary. You're just not trying hard enough."
"I am!" Luca insists.
"Okay, show me."
After Luca plays and dies halfway through the course, I look at him.
"You call that playing? That was garbage! Don't you know the controls yet? The left hand controls the directions and jumps and the right hand controls the fireballs. You should be able to handle the controls with your eyes closed."
"But, Mom," whines Luca, "I can't do it." He tosses the remote onto the couch, "Besides, I'm getting hungry. I think I need a snack."
"I think I need a snack," I mimic in a whiny voice. I pick up the remote and hand it back to him. "Look, if you stop playing like a piece of garbage, you MIGHT just get through it and when you do, you can then have something to eat," I snarl at him. "Now, focus!" He gives me a dark look before turning back to the screen.

Six hours later, after arguing and crying and my relentless coaching, Luca suddenly makes it through Super Mario Bros level 3-6. We have tears in our eyes as we beam at each other.
"See Luca?" I smile at him and hug him, "I knew you could do it. You just need to work hard, believe in yourself, and then you can overcome any challenge. I hope you learned this very important lesson."
"Thanks Mom, you're the best," Luca giggles and then asks, "can I have something to eat? I'm starving."
"Of course champ, here you go,"
"Uh," he looks at the cheeseburger and fries, "is there anything else to eat?"
"What? It's your favourite."
"I'm just getting a little tired of it," he shrugs.
"You've only had it everyday for three weeks," I tell him. "Look, eat up. You need your energy. Tomorrow, I want to see you get through World 4."

Luca does get through World 4, quite easily, but after that, for some reason, he stops playing Wii, and no matter what I say, bribe or threaten, he refuses to pick up the remote. And he also refuses even to look at a cheeseburger and fries. These days, he will only read books and eat green vegetables. I know I may have been a little tough, but despite what everyone says, I still believe I did the right thing...