Happy Fatherhood Friday! Listen, when I was growing up I had my mouth washed out with soap, my bare bottom spanked with a belt and a fly swatter, the indignant pubescent smirk smacked off my face – all in the name of love and discipline.
I never thought of these incidents as abuse and never will. I’m not making light of it either in the context of today's reality; I wrote yet another post about my efforts to help prevent domestic violence and child abuse and my participation in the Human Race.
But what’s with the link between the baby shaker app pulled from iTunes and encouraging child abuse?
The app encouraged users to shake a virtual baby to quiet its cries. One parent,
I empathize with that parent; that’s nothing but blatant child abuse and I hope that father was prosecuted. Apple since apologized and rightly so, but I still don’t buy it would’ve encouraged child abuse. I give people more credit than that and responsible parents wouldn’t be wasting their time with that crap anyway. (I downloaded the iFart and Cylon Detector apps – what a frickin’ waste.)
But the lady who lost it and told her girls to get out of the car and then drove away? C’mon. What the hell?
I’m not a mom (I’m a dad) and I have yet to experience the joy of Bea driving me absolutely bonkers, but I would never tell her to get out of the car and drive away. Mama A doesn’t subscribe to physical discipline, but I’d argue a swat now and again would have a positive impact, not a negative one. Time outs are for woosies (just kidding - no hate mail please).
When my sister and I were 7 and 9 we went with my mom on an errand spree. We were maybe into errand number 2 and we were done.
Done. Whiny done. Sniveling, slobbery, crying done.
Mom warned us multiple times to stop it, but we escalated to whiny shriek, bouncing and rocking all over the backseat (long before the seat belt law). After the third errand we were inconsolable.
Mom said, “That’s it. When we get home you’re both getting a spanking.”
Immediately we shifted to begging and bartering mode. I would’ve sold my soul at that point. Mom kept quiet all the way home while we plead with her.
As soon as we pulled into the driveway, she started laughing. A really honest forgiveness laugh.
We sighed with relief. We were redeemed. There was a God.
“You’re not going to spank us now?” I asked.
Mom laughed even harder.
“Yes, I am. Now get in the house.
I don’t think I ever whined on errands again. I’m just sayin’…
Remember, Fatherhood Friday is hip place at Dad-Blogs.com for dads and moms to share stories, ideas, photos and movies with one topic in mind – fatherhood.
