Conversation At Denny's/We Have A Social Butterfly

Daniel and I had dinner at Denny's tonight, and I overheard a conversation of the people in the booth next to us. They were talking about methods of discipline, and said that there is no better way to discipline a child than by spanking. In fact, one individual stated that if one doesn't spank their children, they spoil their children.

Yeah, I'm totally NOT okay with that. In fact, I am firmly against spanking as a form of discipline. No matter how you look at it, if you spank, your hand is still forcibly coming in contact with a child's body. That's still hitting. This is just me talking, but spanking is still hitting, the word is just sugar-coated a little. By having the need to hit a child, it shows that a caregiver is not in control of him/herself, and is using bullying as a method of maintaining control over a situation.

Spanking could also be seen as a double-standard. As parents, we generally teach our children it's not acceptable to hit others. If we allow ourselves to spank/hit them, it teaches them that 1) it's okay to hit if you want someone to do what you want them to do, and 2) we're not consistent in our teachings.

This is probably one of the few things that I both get heated up about as well as am outspoken about. If I offend anyone with this, please know that I'm sorry you may feel upset, but I don't apologize for how I feel on this one. In my experience with children, even the most mis-behaved children will respond to other forms of discipline, and I've never needed or wanted to hit a child to get him/her to behave.



Alright, now that the serious stuff is all done, I want to share some funny Anya moments!

• When we were at the WIC office, Anya started talking to ANYONE she saw! She jabbered and had staring contests with babies, smiled and giggled at grown-ups, and even went as far as yelling to get people to look at her.
• When we take her to visit my dad in the hospital, she gets mad if we pay more attention to him than her. She also doesn't understand why Grandpa doesn't hold her, and when she's interested in looking at him, does EVERYTHING she can to charm him into picking her up.
• Has just learned how to splash water completely out of the baby bathtub. She thinks this is hilarious, and will laugh her head off while splashing in the water.