Guest Blog: Spanking Is The Second Mistake

Spanking is the second mistake
By Leslie Cabarga
Ventura County Online, April 7, 2011


 By the time she spanks, it is the mom’s second misbehavior. The first is whatever she did or did not do to cause the child to “misbehave.” A 15-month-old or a 3-year-old may be curious, impatient, goading, erring, attention-seeking and cuddle-requiring. But children are never really “bad” until parents mistreat them or teach them bad behavior. The mom or dad who is so threatened by a 2-year-old’s attempts at demonstrating a little autonomy that they would need to spank should take lessons in self-esteem. YOU, as the parent, are so unquestionably in charge, you don’t need to lord it over a baby. Instead of a “time out,” what is needed in the case of a child who is acting out is a “time in,” where the parent pays attention to the “naughty” child giving it the love that its “misbehavior” is actually crying for.