Spanking children... acceptable or not as discipline?

[Bettie]

45. We don't spank. Ever.

A lot of that is due to my history. I had parents who spanked. I generally had bruises up and down my back and legs most days and I was the 'best behaved' of the three of us.

But it did teach me to watch for cues of oncoming violence and to always smile and do whatever was asked of me.

For my own kids, I never want them to look at me with fear. I don't want them to feel what I do for my parents.

So, we use alternative discipline, though really, they seldom need it. Really, the worst thing they do is fight among themselves and forget to get their laundry to the hamper.

Also, spanking seems counter intuitive to me. Hitting someone for hitting his brother is just weird.

We've used time outs when they were little, but honestly, talking about what they've done and why it isn't appropriate or correct behavior works just fine.

Now, I must read a bedtime story to the smallest of my three boys.