SPARE THE ROD AND SPOIL THE CHILD

Hmmm, those good old naija days we endured a lot of beating and deety(dirty) slaps. As a child back then when i was growing up you don't want your parents to tell you the same thing twice especially when the second time lands you a slap on the face or an unexpected beating from behind. Those were the days when the rod was not spared. The phrase spare the rod and spoil the child doesn't apply to a lot of nigerian parents espeically mine. My dad had a way with words especially when he spared the rod but this child was not spoiled. There are some things that your parents would say that would hurt worse than being beaten,my dad had that as his weapon but my mom on the other hand would just throw one dirty slap that would let your wisdom teeth take a walk out of your mouth.

Usually it didnt just end at home , in school ,you had teachers that would intimidate you with their canes and that alone was scary. Canes of all sizes would sit behind the teachers table waiting for one ripe buttocks to flog. Back then i would have endured punishment to those canes, and there was this myth that the thinner canes hurt more than the thicker and fatter ones. It didn't matter. Never be afraid of the weapon ,be afraid of the person holding the weapon. I can take a thick and a thin cane and flog a kid and it wont hurt but if i decide to flog you out of frustration or annoyance you can as well call yourself dead meat. Some teachers were just plain mean. I remember back then when we had this mean math teacher in Primary six, if you get anything less than 15 out of 20, you are dead meat and he gave more strokes of cane if you got more questions wrong, imagine if you got 2 out of 20, 18 deadly strokes of those his canes that God knows where he got them from.

In the Western world it is a lot ddifeerent, the breed of kids in this generation makes wonders really never end,i watch some little brats come to my job and act up and their mothers behave like the kids are remote controlling them such a scenario as this

A kid is playing with a wig and acting the fool meanwhile there is a sign on the glass that say

"PLEASE CONTROL YOUR KIDS". And then the mother reads it and this is the kind of conversation that ensues

Mother: Honey put the wig down

CHILD: (still acting the fool) NO!

Mother: I said put the wig down

CHILD: No (starts throwing a fit)

Mother: Be quiet i said put the wig down

CHILD: No, you be quiet (tantrums and then throws the wig on the floor)

ME: (silent thought: you are so freaking lucky you are not my kid, i would have marinaded your ass in the store and given it to yo daddy for dinner, better put that s*** away and get your little behind on the floor)

Mother: Oh dear, i need to take him home he needs a nap, he is getting grouchy.

Me: (silent thought: only grouchy)

Another scenario is some hispanic lady who came to the store with her little kid and the little girl was playing with the hair dye bottles and putting it in her mouth,my coworker saw her and told her nicely not to play with the bottles and the mother acted like she had earphones on, she didn't correct her kid , next thing the girl was opening the bottle and then my coworker intervened again

COWORKER: Put the color down, don't play with it.

MOTHER: You don't have to yell at my daughter.

COWORKER: I am not yelling at her, can't you see she is playing with the hair dye. She was just about to drink it.

MOTHER: She is just a little girl, if you wanted to talk to her you should have said so nicely and by the way english is her first language.

Bamm!!!!!!!! Right there, a fifth grade is definitely smarter than this lady. What does first language have to do with simple obedience?

Like for real, i have seen some mothers make some lame excuses for their really bad kids. If your kid is acting up, its not because he or she needs a nap, they don't even need to get one, whoop their little behinds. I believe the reason why i act responsible is the fact that i got whooped as a child and it helped my thinking and choices. Its not abuse, i believe that sometimes those once in a while whoopings just help the children to know not to repeat that same act again and know when to behave. If my kid acted funky in the grocery store, i would beat daytime savings out of that kid, you cant just display embarrassing behavior in public and then try to make excuses for it. If you keep making excuses for your kids behavior they would never become responsible for anything. You would continue to do stuff for them because they are so dependent on your excuses, the stupid ones you make for them.

Practical parents who know how to instill discipline in their kids can do so without whooping them, it may come in form of taking something that the child values a lot or just some sort of punishment thats the sparing of the rod and spoinling the child. It can work either way but it depends on the child. Children learn as they grow and experiences make them wiser. Experiences such as putting your hand in a flame and knowing it would burn you.There is nothing wrong with correcting kids. I would never whoop my kids just becuase ...,but if it is a corrective measure i won't mind doing it but there are other ways,but our African parents, i give them kudos.

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