Lizzie Borden Society Forum

Read it and weep -- and laugh:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-yo ... ted-today/

OMG, Constantine, I cracked up when I read the part that I underlined in the last sentence of the article.

And don't think you only have to pay attention to covering up your child outside your home: In 2012, a couple lost custody of their children after pictures they were developing at Walmart showed their two young daughters in the bath. Naked. In the bath, if you can believe that. The children were taken from their parents for a month before being returned with no charges filed, maybe just with a warning that they should bathe their children clothed from now on and also to wear a blindfold while changing any diapers, to prevent lustful thoughts.

I’m surprised ‘Spanking Your Children’ wasn’t mentioned!!! This is a big 'no-no' now days, but when I was growing up it was done by all the parents I knew!

Thank you for posting this article; I found it be enlightening and quite humorous to boot.

I also loved the author's tongue-in-cheek style (especially the bit you underlined). That kind of thing is of course quite common, but she does it especially well. As for spanking, it depends. One or two good whacks when all else fails is fine. It depends on the type and degree of the offense, of course.

I'm old enough to remember when mothers used to leave their baby carriages outside unattended (with the babies) while they went shopping. I think it was the Peter Weinberger kidnapping in the mid-50s that put a stop to that. (The kid died, unfortunately.) I confess I used to love to go up to the babies and yell, "boo!" just to hear them cry! A woman caught me once, chewed me out and waited for my mother. She also chewed me out and waited for the baby's mother. She then said, "Now you go up to the mother and you say you're sorry!" Not understanding about indirect speech yet, I dutifully went up to the mother and said, "You're sorry!" (No, it didn't stop me. I was just more careful from then on -- or (probably) just lucky. (I was a little boy then. I don't do that any more, of course.))

I agree, it depends on the type and degree of the offense, as to whether a spanking is warranted. I was spanked as a child and I have to say I deserved each and every one of them. When a child is doing or saying something wrong, then they need to pay the consequences. A swat on the rear teaches right from wrong.

I know it is not easy for a parent to spank their child, but sometimes it is needed. My mother was the main disciplinarian in our family; my father spanked me once, and believe me, I learned my lesson very quickly. My siblings and I were spanked fully clothed; my parents never, ever, bared our bottoms. Baring a child bottom to administer a spanking is downright disrespectful to the child who is being disciplined; it is degrading, humiliating, inappropriate and totally uncalled for.

I never feared my parents, but I did fear their punishment when I knew I did something wrong. I have always had a great deal of respect for both of my parents.

Here's the story of the Weinberger kidnapping. I'm glad the kidnapper got the death penalty:

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/fam ... kidnapping

Wow.

As handwriting matches go, that's enough to convict all by itself... I can only assume that this was the last sample compared, because no one who knew anything about it at all would bother to look at another...

Constantine wrote: I confess I used to love to go up to the babies and yell, "boo!" just to hear them cry! A woman caught me once, chewed me out and waited for my mother. She also chewed me out and waited for the baby's mother. She then said, "Now you go up to the mother and you say you're sorry!" Not understanding about indirect speech yet, I dutifully went up to the mother and said, "You're sorry!"

This was your precursor for a career on Laugh In:
Dan Rowan: "Say good night, Dick!"
Dick Martin: "Good night, Dick!!?"

As far as spanking is concerned, in most cases a kid should not be spanked for a first offense. Warn him/her first. Actions that are obviously malicious and/or dangerous would be exceptions.

I remember the Weinberger case it made news even here in Illinois. So sad the baby died.

We got only a few spankings in our home but since I had a stepfather every time they got after me I said I wanted to go live with my real father. Of course I didn't want to go but I had to lash out some way. Brat that I was.

Yeah parents would be going to jail like crazy now for every little thing, and kids seems so much more out of control these days and a lot of parents seem to be afraid of them.

Complaints like that are perennial. We often see the past through rose-colored glasses and the present through brown ones. "We didn't start the fire. It was always burning since the world's been turning."