To Spank or Not to Spank

Before I tell you this hilarious story, I feel the need to say that Andy and I do believe spanking is a reasonable and appropriate form of discipline when used correctly. Spankings should be administered by a self-controlled, loving parent who is seeking to train his/her child in appropriate behavior by inflicting a measured amount of pain to make a certain behavior no longer desirable. Spanking is not a means of venting frustration and should never be done flippantly. Spankings should accompany verbal instruction on the reason for the consequence and what appropriate behavior looks like. Spankings, when administered correctly, are truly an expression of love, not anger.

Okay, with that said...

The other day Caedmon and I were at the playground and he began playing with a couple other kids who were about his age. The other children (a boy & a girl) were long-time friends, and I started chatting with their mothers. The little girl found a branch that had broken off of the tree and was carrying it around. The boy's mother told her to be careful with the branch and the girl's mother agreed. The girl's mother was not really paying attention to the kids because she did not see the following events unfolding. The little girl was walking toward the little boy and was clearly about to knock him upside the head with this branch. (Did I mention this branch was as tall as she was and had all kinds of poke-your-eye-out-twigs sticking off of it?) The boy's mother yells at the girl to put the branch down while simultaneously sprinting toward her, hurdles the bushes, and grabs the branch out of her hand. She takes the girl by the arm and says, "Go see your mother!" Meanwhile, the girl's mom who was trailing behind arrives at the scene, yanks the girl around, and starts repeatedly swatting her on the butt. (The girl is doing her best wiggle dance to dodge incoming blows.) The mother, as she is angrily spanking her child, yells, "DO WE HIT PEOPLE?!"

I couldn't help but laugh out loud and think to myself, "Wow, I bet she really understood that spanking!"