General Discussion

and it wasn't OK.

My father used a leather belt. He would walk toward us, singing a little song he made up as he laughed and demanded that we pull our pants down.

Then, he would hit us with the belt until he felt there were enough welts there to make us "behave". I and one of my brothers cried right away, it got us out of the worst of it. My youngest brother never once cried. He flatly refused to give in and would just look at him and say "I hate you" afterward, which usually led to another round.

My mother used a wooden spoon or a metal serving spoon on whatever body part was handy.

I have never spanked my children. In fact, our discipline has been pretty lax.

Generally, we've been able to talk to them about what they did and why it was not cool and say "Don't let it happen again."

We have had to impose further consequences three or four times over three children, though the youngest is only 12, so we'll see how he does. Our kids are afraid of us being disappointed in them, not of us physically harming them.

I haven't been a perfect mom, yelled too much when they were little and I worry that it hurt them, but they aren't afraid of us.

I felt nothing when my father died. Literally nothing except a vague sense of relief.

I hope my kids are sad when I die.