[mystweaver]

Originally Posted by nanookmama

Same for me. Except both of my parents were sure they could 'out stubborn' me. They were both wrong. I remember, as a child, realizing that spanking would only work until I was bigger than them or until their back problems made them vulnerable . And that punishment would only work as long as they had something I wanted. So as soon as I could get a job, they wouldn't have any way of punishing me. Apparently, as a three year old, I responded to spankings with 'That didn't hurt and I WON'T cry.' and time outs with 'I wanted time by myself anyway.' My mother got really frustrated one day (I couldn't have been older than 5) and took EVERYTHING out of my room. She took the pictures off the walls, the sheets off the bed, everything. I had a dresser (empty) and a bed. (I think I was refusing to clean up the room so this was a related punishment) I told her (and I remember this) that I had better things to play with at day care and school anyway and that I was tired of looking at the things in my room, and now that all that stuff was gone, I could get back to doing what I had wanted to do, which was practice my ABC's.

Are you my missing twin?

My parents also tried the empty room (bare mattress, no door, etc.) tactic--I remember Dr. Laura mentioning it, so maybe it's a common punitive practice?

This thread has been really helpful--just last night I was mentioning to my husband that we'll probably end up with a spirited/strong-willed ADHD child (it runs on both sides, and we're both strong-willed). He just glanced at me and said (sarcastically) "Imagine how hard that will be if you don't believe in spanking." At least I'm not crazy, and eventually he'll come around...?