Tulip_Plus_3

I had to walk away from my other answer, the entire concept that using a switch on a kid AND IT DOESN'T HURT makes me so mad I can hardly bear it. My mom spanked me with a switch. It was a balloon stick. I'm telling you, it hurt terribly. Sometimes she'd hit me so hard it would cut my skin. Sometimes it would leave bruises. My little friends in grade school would tease me about the marks on my legs. If it hurt that badly on a fleshy part of my body (often through my clothing), imagine how much more it would hurt directly on a sensitive area like the hand???

I say if you're using something to hit a child (or anyone) and you can swing that object through the air and it makes a whistling noise or however you describe that noise - IT'S GOING TO HURT!!!!!!!! DUH!!! Anyone who says otherwise is lying, they're totally in denial and deluding themselves. Perhaps they've justified the truth (that it hurts) in some manner so they no longer accept the truth as reality, but that doesn't change the reality - hitting with a switch really hurts. I think the people who say you should never hit with your hand are issuing that order because they know that if they did hit with their hand, they'd feel the sting & pain of the blows, too. Don't give me any nonsense that a child will get confused if you hit with your hand one minute, then comfort them with your hands the next. That's ludicrous and an insult to the human intellect. A child is smart enough to know that the hands which are now comforting them were the hands that a minute before were wielding a stick (or belt, paddle, flyswatter, rod, plastic strip, whatever). KIDS AREN'T DUMB! I think if a parent is going to be smacking their child around, they should have the courage to use their hands to do the deed. Then they'd know exactly how hard they are hitting, and they'd be sure not to hit a child too hard because if they did, they (the parent) would get hurt too.

Of course, this idea didn't always work in my house. My father would often beat me with his hands, but I think he got a sense of, what, I don't know, I won't say enjoyment or fulfillment, but maybe a sense of emotional release out of it. One time he hit me so hard with his hand that he broke his wrist. That's too hard to be hitting a kid, don't you think?! And do you know what? I was supposed to feel guilty about it!!! It was my fault my dad broke his wrist because I was struggling to get away from him and put my legs up to protect myself. To this day my mom still tries to guilt me out about that incident. Of course I immediately throw back that no one should ever hit a child hard enough to break a bone, and then she shuts up...

I'm sorry to go off on a rant, but this whole "it doesn't hurt" bit makes me absolutely crazy. I can believe that a parent who spanks does so because they honestly believe they are doing what's best for their child. I don't agree with that notion, of course, but I believe that THEY believe it's what's best. However, I'll never sit quietly if someone starts down the road of "it doesn't hurt". That's nonsense. It's illogical.

Jodi, I so love this:

THANK YOU!