Moms

 I haven't always had a good relationship with my mama. There was a point in time when my mama and I were anything but close. Actually strike that, we were leagues apart. I went through the typical "I hate you" phase with my mama when I was younger. You see, my mama has a wicked temper (which I inherited) and she grew up in a very abusive home. Her father took a horse whip to her oldest brother when he was about 17 I think. Her parents used to chase each other with hammers and then hit each other with them. They used to shoot at each other, run each other over with vehicles. It was a living hell from what I have been told. We are all too aware that "A child lives what they've learned.". I won't say that my mama was abusive to me and my brothers. I will just state that she was tough with us. It was definitely not unusual to have a belt taken to our tails. I can remember being grounded. For thirty days at a time. Yes, thirty days. I grew up desperately wishing that I could be grounded for a week or two like other kids. I hated it. As a result of how I was raised and the situations I had faced, I promised myself that I would be a different kind of parent. A better parent. I vowed to not do the things my mother did. I grew to hate spankings, paddling or whatever else you want to call them. That was the one thing I knew I didn't want to do with my own kids.  Don't get me wrong, I am not against spanking. Not by any means. I just feel that it should be reserved for the severe issues. Spanking my child after they have hit someone or bitten them, is counter productive in my opinion. You are telling the child "We don't hit", "we don't bite" and then we turn around as a parent and spank them. Which is hitting. See what I am saying?  I will not sit here and say that I have never spanked any of my kids. I have. But it was done only after all other options were exhausted and the action that warranted a spanking was something serious. My kids can tell you exactly how many times I have spanked them. The number is few.  I am glad that i now have a good relationship with my own mama. She's chilled in her older age LOL