yeah... kids should really know
1) That you love them and would take bullets for them, and
2) They disrespect you, and no matter the age, with a smile on your face and love in your heart, you will put a boot to their backside faster than they can finish their sentence
They will be in awe that you care for them so much... but also in fear of you, should they choose to violate that same respect that you show to them. I gave out a few spankings when my little boy was 4 or 5... maybe five or six total? And no need since. There's that level of respect and understanding. I see some cousins - whose mom never spanked - and they're screaming in mom's face at 8 years old, knowing full well no whooping will come their room. Rather, it's "Take your ipad and go in your room... you are grounded for 8 minutes..." LOL
My kid says "Dad, that kid is rude... why won't Aunt Susie spank her and set her straight?" LOL...
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Agree for the most part.
100% with point #1. 95% with point #2.
Your children should respect you enough to know that you will follow through with a boot, but a clever parent knows it almost never has to come to that. My kids (7 and 5) have never been spanked - that's not a point of pride for me or anything...I just have a problem with smacking kids because my old man beat the hell out of me pretty bad as a kid. My kids fear dad's potential discipline more than the devil himself. One glance and a lowering of the voice and they know what's up. My wife has yet to master this, which is why they run roughshod on her, and I'm bailing her out most of the time. She's all over them all the time about everything they do, so they're burned out on her mothering ways. They just push her buttons now. I tell her to lighten up and save the lightning for when she needs it, but she's having a hard time backing off.
It's a balance. I give them a lot of rope. And they can use it, or hang themselves with it. I'm not slow at all to let them know when they've gone off the reservation with their behavior. But I'm not constantly cooing over them all day either or over-protecting them from the bumps and bruises of every day life...you're going to screw stuff up kids, and I won't be there to bail you out of every meatball idea that creeps into your ridiculous head. They feel free, unentitled, yet respectful of adults and clear on where the boundaries are (I can only hope...kids will be kids!).
My only worry right now is how they respond to other adults. Will they know enough to respect other adults, without just blindly following other stupid adults who have no business being a leader in their life. That's the tough part of my job, as I see it, right now. Many adults are far stupider than my kids and I'm trying to teach them the difference between healthy respect and just ignoring the villiage idiots at their schools who are dumber than a bucket of rocks.
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