Spanking Out of Spite: Parenting with Patience, Not Anger

May 19, 2021

• Family,
• Reflections,
• Hope on Demand,
• Parenting

We have a joke in our family. It surrounds an incident that happened years ago, when I was a young mom, flustered at my three-year-old for his poor behaviour and his seeming cheekiness to me. He wasn’t listening to me. And I was mad. So, I spanked him. And he giggled. So I spanked him a bit harder. And he giggled again. And, then, I took my anger out on my son’s bottom, spanking him so hard, I left a red hand mark on his bum.