None of whom were fat...coincidence?

damn walnut, that's getting into cruel and unusual.

My dad had one of those happenin', really wide 70's belts with like flowers burned into it; he used to threaten to put those flowers on our asses and then he'd crack it real good. Hilarious and effective.

My mom did that to me once... and I NEVER got into that predicament again. That's old school Polish discipline right there. I think I lasted 2-3 minutes.

From when I was about 5, my sister about 10, in the car going somewhere, annoying the crap outta moms:

(mom)"Squirrgle, do you want me to make you take a nap?!" =the worst threat she had at the time...
(me)"Noooo! I'll be good!"
(sister)"She can't make you take a nap, stupid, it's an empty threat."
(mom)"Beth hush!"

I got the open hand [both], the belt [dad] and the fly swatter [mom].

Hell, I remember corporal punishment in school, and this was only in the early 80s. Anyone remember these dandies?

• Principals giving spankings with hand or paddle in the office, then back to class.
• Putting your nose in a circle on the chalk board that was just high enough so you had to stand slightly on your toes.
• In first grade, if the entire group wouldn't quiet down, they would make you stand with your arms out at your sides. That shit gets real old real fast. Once I didn't think anyone was looking so I put them down real quick, only to be rewarded with the vice principal flicking the back of my skull. Arms went right back up.

I didn't get spanked, I got the shit kicked out of me. And I'm a more adjusted person for it IMO.

EDIT: Oh, and I do not plan on doing the same to my child.
























Unless they're annoying.



















Or fat.

We employed the first 2. I mouthed off once to a teacher (no shit?) and got the paddle. To those who never had the pleasure, it's easily 50/50 embarassment/pain. It's not like you've been sentenced to having a finger cut off. If it happened by accident, like if a 1/2 door shut on your ass quickly, you wouldn't think much of it after 5 seconds. But the production they make of it, that's what just kills you. It's half theater.

<--- would rather be fat than violent

This is a form of DISCIPLINE, and it takes DISCIPLINE to not be fat.

I know you are some kind of sensitivo, Sketch, and I appreciate, understand and empathize that not everything is easily categorizable..but I live in a world where sometimes folks need to be smacked (or beaten down, put in the gas chamber, or have their sand filled countries turned into sheets of glass)

To each their own.

As sad as that may sound, violence will always be an option for some people. It's unfortunate but people suck sometimes.

I would be extremely reluctant to believe that sparingly administered physical punishment even tends to breed violence without some empirical data. I would think a lack of punishment could do just as much in that regard.

I agree. It's not the only form, though, and just because it's the most accepted/familiar form doesn't automatically make it the most effective long-term. EDIT: I would also be interested to hear a "discipline" versus "abuse" distinction (maybe including how the law defines child abuse), but I really don't have a lot of energy for this conversation right now.


Understood. I guess I'd like to do my part to create a world where that type of stuff is no longer necessary.

That's fair, and I'd agree that a lack of any discipline would have the same if not worse effect. No stats on this at the moment, though.

Sure it takes discipline, Dave, but you can't drum that into someone's head-- they have to "get it." For someone like me, who is usually very disciplined and balanced (like what Steve said-- work out hard, eat what you want), there was a period in my life where I was sad, lonely and aimless. Because of that, I thought my life was pretty shitty and didn't really have any goals or ambitions. When your life feels bleak to you like that, sometimes a Blizzard from Dairy Queen makes you feel good (and sugar does increase endorphins). The hard thing is-- you get used to that being the norm instead of the one-off treat, and then you gain weight. Now you feel even more crappy about yourself, because you're no longer thin. And then having other people look at you and judge you unfairly, not knowing what's going on, it makes you feel even worse. So yes, it takes discipline, but that isn't always a switch that can be flipped on whenever you feel like it. Why do you think the diet industry is so popular and lucrative?

And as for the other topic (getting smacked as a kid), yes, I did get spanked (open hand by Dad, wooden paddle by Mom) and I can count the number of times I got spanked on one hand. I agree with Haq and Sketch that corporal punishment isn't the only way-- kids these days just need to know that there are CONSEQUENCES to their behavior, not this mewling, pleading, begging parent-bullshit that seems to be prevalent today. I'm not a parent, nor do I wish to be, but I think kids crave structure and boundaries.

Okay, so OPA says he was never spanked. If it's the same for Ayah and Hideous Lump we may be on to something.

Steve

But you're damn good dog owner.

Kids who were spanked = drunks

kids who weren't spanked = gay

Though I would venture to guess that ayah was spanked by her parents.

Hopefully no worse.

Obner is the cheapest therapy around.

Unliscensed.

Potentially dangerous.

But therapy nonetheless.

Thanks, Chris... right back atcha! btw, I'll have to get around to posting some new photos of the newly-healed diva dog soon. She's crazy, but she's my girl.

This made me laugh. Needed that. Thanks, dude.

Your bill is in the mail.

I'm just wired differently. It's because my parent's main governing philosphy was and is "Get over it." Whether you fell down and scraped your knee, got arrested, got dumped or flunked a class...you gotta pick your punk ass up and get back on your fucking horse. Anything else is weakness. And weakness won't be tolerated.

in some regards we were raised by the same parents in different places.
I was also pushed to do things I didn't want to even if failure was a probable outcome. Accepting failure, moving on and learning from it was probably the biggest theme in my household.