My jaw dropped as I counted the times the strip of leather raised up and came down with authority and crack against the helpless little tot. One.. Two ..three.......FOUR !
By that time I had my phone in hand trying to be judge and jury.
I hadn't seen a belt used for anything except holding up somebody's pants since the 60's. Flashback hit me big time and my ass was feeling every lick being delivered by that dad in the minivan.
Let me say that I am all for corporal punishment and I spanked both of my kids when the infraction warranted such. I just couldn't bring myself to use anything but my hand. I'm not saying my dad or the stranger in the parking lot was wrong for using the belt, I just felt like I needed to know how hard my child was being spanked. You just don't get that kind of feedback from a belt or a board. I knew that when my hand was stinging I had made my point.
I didn't want my anger to be the arbiter of the lesson to be delivered to my kids.
Before we became a nation of sue ers, many students were kept in line with the BOARD of education. I received many of those too! Now the inmates are running the asylum and the kids have no fear or respect for the teacher.
Back to the present, or two days ago, I sat in my car and stared at that family to make sure dad didn't cross the line. An older man walked away from the scene and had a smoke. I took him for the grandfather; I figured maybe grampa just couldn't take seeing his grand kid get his butt beat.
I filled up my tank, making it obvious that I was staring at the family in the minivan and glancing at grampa from time to time. As I got back in my Jimmy all seemed to be in order in the next parking lot, as I swung my car around I took one last look at the dejected old man and thought of my two week old grandson. Now that I am in the grampa club, my views on even spanking a child might be subject to review.
You hear that Nicole? Don't you dare spank that child!
3 comments:
There was a peach tree in my Grandmother's back yard at 1625 Draper St., Indianapolis, Indiana. When I misbehaved she would send me out to break off a "switch" to be used to get my attention. Most frequently her comment would be, "No, that's too thick. Go get one that's thinner and more flexible".
Choosing the switch and knowing what would follow was as bad as the corporal punishment, insuring I didn't often have to make the trip to the back yard.
I spanked my son with my hand (three whacks) in the lobby of a Savings and Loan once. The looks I got from workers there were not approving of my actions, but he had not followed my instructions and had knocked over a sign with the present interest rates being paid on about 20 different investment vehicles, scattering the hand-placed letters and numbers all over the floor.
He turned out pretty well considering some might think he was physically abused. (I'm still in contact with many of those workers and I'll compare my son's citizenship to that of their children's any day!)
If you have the sense not to interfere too much with his parent's lessons, I suspect your grandchild will turn out just fine, too. Patience and forbearance, Grandpa.
pickin your own instument of torture, classic! haha
I guess I will have to be like the old man in the parking lot and just walk away if Trenton does something bad enough to get a spankin
Never had to spank my grandkids. A quick trip having to "stand by the wall" (there was no corner available in the garage where the first incident occurred) was enough to keep them in line. Now my nieces and nephews were a different matter. But I was younger then.
I'm not against a reasonable spanking when warranted, but I just haven't ever had to resort to that, probably because I made it clear early on that grandkids would not backtalk grandma. All I have to say now is "TONE" and I get a quick smile and a better attitude out of my sweet 9 year old grandson.
OH, and our mother definitely had the switching down to an art. The thinner ones with a few leaves hurt alot more than the bigger ones.
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