I am too allowed to hit my children

[ailbhe]

Today, after a morning of fruitless, tedious, grownup errands, Linnea stopped as we passed a bus-stop and decided she was staying there until we got a bus home for lunch. I asked her to come on a few times, then picked her up.

"That's more than I'd do," said the sweet little old lady waiting on the bench. "What he wants is a good smack."

I didn't respond.

"But you're not allowed to smack them any more, are you?"

"Oh yes," I said, "I'm not allowed to hit adults but I'm definitely allowed to hit children. The law says I can. Of course, it doesn't do any good."

"That's not what I'm always hearing," she said. Then she went into a complicated mutter about children and smacking and the law, and finally started addressing Linnea directly, telling her not to slouch, not to pick her nose, not to be naughty. When she called Linnea a bad child I snapped.

"At least she doesn't criticise random strangers in public."

We walked off, me shaking. I wish I hadn't felt I had to stay and listen to her for so long. Some sort of politeness filter stopped me walking off mid-conversation. But a woman further along the row of bus-stops smiled at me.

Comments

[ailbhe]

My top favourite of these is the boy who was repeatedly being smacked for hitting his father. "Don't hit me!" *smack*. Over and over again. SURELY it must become obvious it's not working, after the first few iterations?

[allyphoe.livejournal.com]

Some people have no sense of irony, either.

[k425.livejournal.com]

Sadly, not. But it's why I don't want to use hitting as a punishment. What does it teach, exactly? "I'm bigger than you so I can hit, but you can't hit people you're bigger than"?

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

I witnessed the classic of "Don't *whack* hit *whack* your sister!" *whack*

I was so boggled that I just couldn't say anything.