For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for May 29, 2018

got any brighter ideas, Mike?

“Act like a man and see it through.” I don’t know about that. Since Elizabeth is having no problem with this punishment, maybe Michael should act like a little girl and see it through.

They treat you like a kid then expect you to be a man about it!

The worst kind of parents who those who rather be friends with their children, rather them like them rather than hate them because of discipline and restrictions, impose no rules or boundaries. These kids grow up confused and insecure.

To a teenager, it seems like parents love punishing their children. To a parent, however, they wish no punishments ever had to take place. Yet another common area of miscommunication between adolescents and their parents – the trying times are just beginning, Mike!

When my folks dealt out discipline, we were not to show any “attitude” about it, or the belt was brought into play. I would have preferred being grounded, or not being permitted TV for a time, or anything else rather than “the belt.” Dad did not hold back when wielding his belt, and if mom was doing the “licking” then it was the wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Kids today are way too coddled if you ask me.

No, Michael, they HATE every minute of it! But you won’t understand that until you’re a parent yourself.

Michael, this is not the Sufi way.

I still don’t understand how this is punishment, you just have to read for two weeks!!

Lynn’s Notes:

I not only bared my soul as a parent in this discipline series, I bared my soul as a kid. When you are playing two roles like this, you have to see both sides. Memories of how I felt and how I acted as a child are right here. This wasn’t Michael thinking…this was me.

I’m hoping that today’s parents are reading this strip, it’s OUR responsibility to teach our kids right from wrong. It hurts parents to have to punish the kids but in the long run the kids win by becoming good honest people who will hopefully pass along those lessons to their kids. Wish more people would step up and be parents now days.

M2MM same way in my house. Luckily I listened and did what I was told and obeyed my parents rules. My sister was the one that didn’t and she paid the price for her mouth, attitude etc. My brother was like me when we did something wrong we took our punishment and that was that.

So thankful that those teenage years are over. Such a turbulent time in the life of a parent and child.

Parents do not especially enjoy disciplining their children. But there have to be limits or anarchy will be the end result in society. Currently we we’re seeing the result of a lack of discipline in our society. It will get worse.

I remember Janet Reno (a former Attorney General) saying, “ the current generation had to do a better job at raising their children than the previous one because we can’t build enough prisons to hold them”.

Kids should be spanked, when deserving, and that’s it. No mind games, no time outs, no loss of anything. If that doesn’t work, sell them to slave traders in some small country.

Michael, the rebel without a clue.

Would anyone here confiscate their child’s I-phone?

We parents agonize when we have to punish our child.

We love every minute when our child does something remarkable – big and most of all, small.

My mother busted more than one wooden yardstick across my butt ( when she could catch me ) and I’m sure I was the recipient of more than one or two “spankings” by either parent, when I was small ( hurt my pride more than my bottom ), and once or twice was on the receiving end of my father’s backhand as a teenager, when I’d gotten too mouthy or pushed things too far. Usually, though, all it took was his silent, " look and point " to keep me in line.

My father always told the teachers that they had his permission to give me a good swat, if I got out of line and I know that if I went home and told him that the teacher’d hit me, it would be nothing compared to the punishment I received at home. ( I went to parochial school and the nuns definitely believed in corporal punishment ).

Consequently, growing up, I learned, ( painfully sometimes ) that there were consequences to my actions. The punishment always fit the crime and I will say that I was never punished unjustly or overly harshly ( although, as a teenager, I might not think so. )

I rarely raised my voice with my kids or grandchildren. I learned the “Look and Point” from my dad and found that most effective.

My oldest grandson, (23) who lived with me for much of formative years knew that very well. I’d ask him: "Have I ever hit you ? " To which he’d reply : " Nope, but I know you would, if I deserved it. "

We gave up trying to control cussing years ago. Too many more significant discipline problems and too much swearing on our part.

I told my sister, her daughter, and her son-in-law, that if I ever heard THEIR language coming out of the grandchildren’s mouths, that I would line THEM up, not the children, and beat their butts. So far, so good. The oldest is about to turn 16, and the youngest is 11.