[magnolia]

I have spanked my boys in the past, primarily with my hand - few times with the belt (NO belt buckle) and only 3 licks when either hand or belt was used. My parents spanked me as a child but it did not border on abuse - usually 3 licks for me and my brothers and sisters. My mother was the disciplinarian in the house as she was home 24/7 - she did not believe in telling us "wait til your father gets home" - by the time he got home, we had forgotten what we had done - if she punished us right when it happened, we remembered it. And she always told us after our punishment that she loved us and it hurt her to have to spank us - and she usually had tears in her eyes. I never told my boys to wait til their dad got home - I exacted punishment befitting the crime (time out, taking toys away, or spanking if it was really bad). Now that my boys are in their teens, I just can't bring myself to spank them - it is MUCH more effective to take tv, cell phone, playstation, etc away from them.

For those of you who were abused rather than spanked, God bless you each and everyone! From your posts here that I've read, you have turned out to be such wonderful people - at least your parents didn't take that away from you!