Underneath the Willow...

My parents believed in corporal punishment (although my father was usually not the one to conduct spankings as he was always working). I believed in corporal punishment, although now I have regrets about spanking my son (some would use the word "hitting" but "spanking" sounds better). I’ve told my son that I will never, ever lay a hand on my grandchildren and I don’t think he should either. It’s what I now believe. Did getting spankings as I was growing up damage me in any way? Nah. In fact, they provided some killer negative reinforcement. Likewise, I don’t think my son has been damaged psychologically or emotionally, but still. There are other ways to discipline children. They don’t have to be hit or spanked. In fact, I’m a huge fan of the "naughty step" or the "naughty corner." The most memorable of the spankings were with the switches from the willow tree in the backyard. Sometimes we were told to go choose the branch ourselves. We (my brother and I) soon learned that the smaller branches stung the most on our legs. We got wiser as we got older, even if we didn’t misbehave any less. :) I also enjoyed playing under the willow tree. It was like a little natural tent with the branches weeping all around. We used to like to run our thumb and forefinger down a branch, forcing all the leaves off and into a "flower like" bunch. Then we would go up to someone and say, "Oh, just smell this flower" and when they put their nose to it we would let all the tiny leaves go in a shower of green leaves. Yeah.....we were big pranksters back in the day!