Stepfamily Issues

Personal stories about stepfamilies, childhood and general family issues.


August 14, 2010

family punishment

As Ronnie’s parents were belting her with a leather strap, tying her up or sending her to bed without any food, they ignored her cries and told her that she didn't know what real suffering was; Ronnie said the exact same thing to her kids on the rare occasion she slapped them; and what will her children say to their children now that it’s against the law to punish a naughty child?

"I was born during a time when children were expected to be seen but not heard," explains Ronnie. "It was a time when cruel, vicious and arbitrary punishment of children was acceptable - even practiced in schools - and I can still remember getting thrashed at home and school for petty misdemeanors."

"Looking back, the worst punishment I doled out to my children was slapping my eldest daughter's face - and screaming like a mad woman at my youngest." sighs Ronnie. "I'm not proud of those two bad incidents - I guess I lost it - but on the scale of punishments it was chicken feed. They were both adolescents at the time and deserved a whipping for what they'd done, but being a doormat mom I usually just copped their misbehavior on the chin. I guess when you don't have some sort of regular punishment going on, you're liable to lose it."

"Up until my children entered the adolescent rebellion stage I really enjoyed parenting," says Ronnie, "and after that it was a real drag. You look forward to having a good adult-adult relationship with your children when they turn 18, and I did have it for a time with my daughters, and it's disappointing how things panned out, but hey, you just pick yourself and get on with life."

"When you're an adult, you're free to choose whatever life you want to lead," says Ronnie, “and I’d hate to be a parent in today’s PC world, where you can’t even touch a naughty child.”

"And thank God for divorce,” says Ronnie. “A broken home is better than broken bones, and there would have been plenty of those had I not ended my marriage when I did."

Read more about Ronnie:
  • broken home victims?
  • adult kids rake up the past
  • wives and moms are property?





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