Re: How were you disciplined as a kid??
You know, it's weird. My sister and I rarely got in trouble. We were never grounded, as our parents didn't believe in that type of discipline. But we were never spanked, either, except for one time when I think my mom overreacted when my older sister pushed me, a toddler, off the couch and I hit my head on the corner of the coffee table (explains so much). Both of my parents told me a long time ago that they were so badly beaten as children (grew up in the 40s) that they swore they would never do that to their own kids.
We were both very well-behaved children. If we did something to the contrary, the behavior was discussed. And that was the only consequence: knowing that our parents knew what we did and that we had disappointed them. Nothing in this world could have been worse than letting the most important people in our lives down. At least, that's how I saw it, I can't speak for my sister. They sacrificed so much, and worked so hard for us, that they deserved to have respect for that. I respected both of my parents greatly as a kid and teenager.
I'm not saying it was perfect, or that I was perfect, but they had it pretty easy in comparison to others. I never smoked, drank, or did anything that would have made my parents blush. I never swore around them until I was in my 20s. I so rarely talked back that my weak attempts at mockery or anger were probably too funny to punish.
Still corrupting young minds
Bookmarks