madamekelly

My kids got a swat on the behind, when they tried to do something forbidden, after the first warning. Incidents like trying to run off across a parking lot, permanent felt pen on the walls, permanent green felt pen on my friend's Dalmatian to connect the dots, slapping, biting, shoving each other or other children. Getting into forbidden things, like cleaning supplies, etc. otherwise we talked things over. My DD's knew if I swatting them, they had done something really bad or stupid. We always talked about the why every time.

Chasing Hawk

I was spanked as a child by both parents. My kids were never spanked. They got a lot of time outs, the "look", groundings, things taken away (game systems, bikes etc.)

maviskw

I was spanked and I spanked my kids. But they didn't need it that much. Once they experienced a spanking or two, they learned not to do the bad thing. Little ones, as in one or two, need to know that what they did is something not to be doing again. A little swat gets their attention, whereas reasoning if fruitless. Later on they can be talked to about things.

janjanq

My dad would send us to our rooms and swat our behinds as we passed him in the hallway. We'd try to run fast hoping he would miss but he rarely did.

Onebyone

Growing up my Father just used his finger to point. That's all that was needed. My mother would use a switch on our legs when we got out of hand. I have spanked my kids when they were acting like brats and knew better.

Boston1954

I have only had two spankings, and do not remember one.

Our punishments were verbal. Mom would wait until Dad got home and we were eating dinner. At that point she would say "Tell your father what you did today". (is she kidding??) I would rather swim the length of the Cape Cod Canal naked in December than tell my father what I did today.

ptquilts

I don't remember being spanked as a kid. I never had kids of my own, but I have always felt - you are bigger than your kids, smarter, more life experience, you control their toys, tech, what they eat, basically their whole lives - do you really need to resort to corporal punishment as discipline? Like a previous poster said, you are just teaching them that might makes right.

You hear these heartbreaking stories about elder abuse and you wonder how many of the abusers were hit as kids and are now "getting back."

quilt1950

I was spanked as a child, and only remember feeling 'unloved', not disciplined. Don't remember what I did wrong. So, I did not spank. We did a lot of time-outs, taking away toys, and sometimes adding chores. We did not 'reason' with them - if they did something wrong there was a consequence, just not a spanking. I think we were lucky - I don't remember them running away from us, running in a parking lot, and some of the other really dangerous things I've seen kids do. Our girls were generally compliant. Don't know what I would have done if I had had a more spirited child.

gramajo

My DD never spanked her kids, but her son was prone to running ahead in parking lots. One time she told him to hold grandma's hand so she wouldn't get lost. Worked quite well. We used that tactic several times after that.

carolynjo

A sad tale: A friend told of his father beating him so severely that his blood caused his shirt to stick to his wounded flesh. His father saw him trying to soak his shirt loose and apologized and never beat him again.