(no subject)

[danuv]

There is a news story about a church here in Atlanta who's members whip or spank their children and may have them taken away. I've heard both 'whip' and 'spank' used by the reporter but to me there seems to be a huge difference between the two. I have a very strong knee jerk reaction to these sorts of stories because of my great fear that the government is becoming way too involved in what should be personal family choices. In my mind the parents should make the decision to spank or not. Whipping on the other hand crosses the line. No child should be left bruised or covered in welts. Tomas and I don't plan on spanking but we do on occasion spank Rhiannon's hand. As a child I was 'belted' and I think that was too much. However, I knew kids that had it much worse. *sigh* Such a difficult issue. I think that only so much planning out of these matters can be done before you have kids because living the reality of being a parent is so much different than any hypothetical situation you can come up with. Sometimes I feel like I am just throwing darts at a board and hoping that I make the right choice. I figure they will become teenagers and find things to hate me for no matter what I do and I can only do the best I can so no reason to stress myself out about it too much. :) Ah parenthood.

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Gasp!

[electrocurves.livejournal.com]

You know, my mom whooped my butt every so often, but only when I was blatantly horrid, and with plenty of warning. She never ever hit me in anger, and never humiliated me. She was so good about it that to this day I really am proud of the way she handled me. But my brother was different. Spanking didn't work for him. He would be grounded, but not for odd lengths of time like some idiots do to their kids. There was always purpose behind the punishment. Like he would be grounded until his room was clean or something like that. It worked well for him, but I needed a swat now and again. I guess every kid is different. The only time I was ever humiliated when punished, was when someone other than my mom was doing it, like the private school principle, or my grandma. That's the only time it ever made me feel ashamed. But these assholes who beat their kids like it's buying their way to sainthood really piss me off!
So when I say that I got spanked as a child, people automatically conjure up those types of graphic and abusive images. I'm sorry, but I would rather whack my kid on he little hand than let her touch the hot stove, or climb over a two story stair railing. But our job is to guide our kids, not admonish them. And if God is some all-powerful judge, then by all means, why the hell are so many people taking it upon themselves to carry out judgement upon one another. Leave it up to the big guy, I say!
You have your head on so straight, honey, and I think you are doing well!