What happened to the paddle?

When I was a child I never got sent to the principles office, not once. I was scared to death to do anything that might put me there. See when I was a child there were consequence for your actions, and the bigger the action the worse the consequence. Well a few weeks ago Mr. Colton was being an awful child. He was smart mouthing his teachers sticking his tongue out and just being horrible. His teacher, who is also a friend of mine, sent him to the office. When I went to pick him up she came out and told me what went on, and Colton knew he was in for it when he got home.

I told her the next time he does that to call me and I will handle it right then and there. Now at 4 he has already learned that being sent to the office means you sit on the bench for awhile. That is the punishment you get, a time out so to speak. I am not a big fan of the time out. It has never worked with any of my boys. I can tell you that not one of them enjoy a swat on the butt, and they have all gotten them. Spanking a child is an art that most parents have mastered I am sure, and there is a wide gaping hole between a spanking and abuse. I have never abused my boys. I have left them with a stinging butt check, just enough to get their attention.

So what did my 4 year old learn from his office trip? You don't have to worry about getting into trouble until mom finds out. Now if they had taken him into the principles office and that big wooden paddle was hanging on the wall, and they had explained that the next time he was going to get a spanking with it the chances of a next time get pretty slim.

Now I know that some parents are going to say "I don't want anyone spanking my kids" and that is all good and fine when your kids get into trouble the school should be calling you and you can leave work and go to the school and take care of it yourself that minute. The lessons children learn follow them through life, and if they learn at an early age there are no consequence that is exactly how they are going to live their lives.