I Am A Strict Mom

There was an incident recently here that I had to smile about knowing how my daughter was thinking.

My youngest was at the public pool here with us recently and it was fairly busy that afternoon. She being 8 probably thought she was being very quiet when she and her friend were talking but I could overhear pretty easily as it turns out.

They were discussing getting a snack and my youngest was a bit uneasy at doing it because her friend had some money she couldn't explain where it came from (turns out it was "borrowed" from mom's purse") and to top it off they were going to get some sweets that my youngest knew she needs to ask permission to get.

You could see the inner turmoil between wanting to get something nice and enjoy it with her friend and the worry about what would happen if she was caught. Sadly though her 8 year old willpower is not that strong and she went along with the plan.

I wonder if she will try that kind of thing next time or if she has learned for good this time?

beckychandler · F

I suspect that will probably be the last time --she knew it was wrong to begin with --fortunately her Mom got wind of it and was able to reinforce that. I assume she also knows why it is wrong besides if she gets caught she gets a sore bottom. But I am sure that was reinforced. One thing anti-spankers don't understand is that spanking create a teaching moment that would not otherwise exist where a child's moral reason can grow. this is a good example from my Mom experience: https://similarworlds.com/7565041-I-Am-a-Mother/609752-A-while-back-I-was-on-a-road-trip-with-my-sister-m

One issue that comes up in a situation like this is even if they don't participate in the wrongdoing (as yours did) whether the child has a duty to report and if they report it to their own parent whether that parent should tell the thief's parent. And whether the child should be punished if they know about the theft but they don't tell . My answer is yes on all those questions. There was a double reason why your child deserved an especially sound spanking!

I hope she has learned!

Kathryn05 · 41-45, F

@beckychandler: Thank you Becky. The point was she knows both things were disobedient and both were punished for

Kathryn05 · 41-45, F

@BeckyStone: I agree I think the worst for me were the times I would get swatted in public at the mall knowing some of my peers were around