Raising kids is something alright... and my sons are so different from each other it makes it hard to dole out the punishments. That said, they've both been spanked, and I won't use my hand... it hurts. I ALWAYS wait until I'm no longer angry with them, so it stays out of the equation. Now my oldest is 14, so you can forget it, it won't work. I've ground him from doing things with friends, and he's BEGGED for a "whuppin'" instead.
On another note, you really... REALLY... have to be careful what you say to your children when you're angry. I was moving, so I was tired and frustrated, and my oldest was slacking off.(probably because he was tired, too.) So I got mad and yelled at him, but made of of those major parent errors... I yelled, "Damn it, son! You're WORTHLESS!" Bad... Mea Culpa... I sat him down five minutes later to apologize to him. That kind of crap can scar a kid, even at 14.
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On another side note, I wish they would cane those little gang bangers like they do in Singapore. Man, it would be SO much tougher to be cool when you can't sit down... than when you come back from a couple weeks "up at county", which is more like a badge of honor.
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