Wait Til Your Father Gets Home

Welcome back true believers! For those of you that have been along for the ride since the beginning, you know that I am a grumpy old man. I view our children's generation as spoiled and disrespectful as a whole. As with any peer group, there are exceptions, but in general that is my view of them. Blame it on my age, blame it on my upbringing, blame it on the rain, hell...Blame it on Rio! But that is my view. Where did this come from, you might ask?

WalMart...as every good story starts...There I was....I was walking down the aisle and saw a small child, maybe 5 years old. He was throwing a box of some high sugar cereal, let's call it Cap'n Fruity Smacks, into his mom's cart. She politely told him that she already had cereal and he should put the other box back. He turned around and put the box BACK in the cart. She again, politely told little Johnny to return the box of cereal to the shelf. What did little Johnny do? He threw the box on the floor and then he threw himself on the floor. Did his mother beat his ass? Did she pick him up by the scruff of his neck? Nay Nay...she leaned down and said "get up Johnny, you are embarassing Mommy". I had an overwhelming urge to smack the mother.

What would have happened if you or I had pulled this little trick when we were kids? Would Mom have reasoned with us? Would she have spoken to us in a calm voice? Nay nay. She would have whipped our ass right there in the store. And when it was over, she would have dragged us out of the store and thrown us in the car. Would that be enough? Nay nay..then came the phrase that we all feared. "You just wait until your father gets home!" This one phrase instilled the fear of doG in all of us because we knew the end was near. The living in fear part made it worse than the actual punishment. You were stuck in your room dreading the moment that your father would return home from work. You knew that he had a long day at work and then he was coming home to deal with you, even though he didn't know it yet. You also knew that your ass was going to be red!

Today's children know not the fear of "Wait til your father gets home". They have been told by the television and their friends that parents can't lay a hand on them. I have been beaten with bare hand, wooden spoon, belt...you name it. I think I turned out okay. I respect my elders, I am grateful for all that I have. The only "time out" that I had ever heard of was during sporting events. Kids today are put in a corner for 2 minutes. Johnny recieved 4 time outs today. Does that mean that he has none left to use for the rest of the day? Nay nay..what that means to Johnny is that he had to stop being a little turd for 8 minutes out of his 18 hour day. There are no repercussions for actions any more. Standing in a corner while your brother continues to play PS3 is not going to correct the error. Whip that ass one good time and they will associate the inability to sit with the error of their ways. Let them live in fear of the disciplinarian of the family, whether that be mom or dad. Let them know that they messed up and it will not be tolerated. Stop being pansies about it! You know that it worked on you...you are all valuable members of society because your parents beat your ass when you messed up! By NOT spanking your children or some other form of punishment (take away computers, PS3s, TV, cell phones for some) you are doing them an injustice. You are allowing them to run you and your household. I am not saying that you should spank them in anger, I am saying teach them the way that you were taught. It has been proven effective.

Some of you will have strong feelings against this topic, I am sure. I welcome all comments, as always. For some of you, this may be the last stop on our ride together. Others may take your place at the next rest area. Still others will just consider this a pothole and they are stuck on the hump seat. Until next time... Stay Salty!

-Salty Dog