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Author Topic: Standing IN The Corner... (Not in Winslow, AZ)  (Read 668 times)
DDT (12)
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Sometimes ya just gotta go...

Winter Springs, FL - Occasionally...


« on: June 26, 2020, 01:55:34 PM »

NOTE: Another post on our board triggered some memories of my own with its topic. Not wanting to hijack that thread, I wrote this little story for a separate post.

Standing IN The Corner… (Not in Winslow, AZ)

Funny about trends in child discipline… I just happen to have some first-hand experience with that area of ‘human progress’… thanks to my earnest parents to whom I owe so much…

Dad had been raised in an ‘old school’ environment, and the bed-rock traditions of “Spare the rod, spoil the child” and “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop” were very much the dominant themes. No ‘molly-codling’, wishy-washy, or halfway measures would even be considered when it came to doing ones solemn duty in raising young’uns right… Nosiree.

Mother, on the other hand, had come of age in a single parent household well-removed from extended family… her father having died when she was only three, the youngest of five. Her mother had remarried, but her stepdad had also died when she was still quite small. Grandmother basically raised five kids pretty much on her own while working fulltime outside the home to support them all.

Grandma was an incredible person, whom I still hold in absolute awe and genuine admiration to this day. While grandma was no slouch when it came to wielding a switch, she was more inclined to rely upon other forms of guiding influence upon young kids who crossed the line… Indeed, she didn’t wait to simply ‘react or respond’, she took an unusually pro-active approach to positively guiding the behaviors and thinking of her 'chicks' all along the way. In other words, my mother had been inclined to be a wee bit more open-minded and willing to experiment than dad had been predisposed to be…

Throughout most of my upbringing years, though, mother deferred to dad and the more ‘traditional means’ were employed… liberally, robustly, and often. However, there was this one brief interlude when mother took the lead and an alternative was tried. It wasn’t particularly effective either, but it did have the unanticipated side effect, because of the curious coincidence of timing, of providing me with my very first introduction to politics.

Long before ‘timeouts’ or ‘grounding’ were the latest and greatest breakthroughs, the newest ultra-modern rage at that time was ‘standing the child in a corner’. Yep, that was going to be the miracle tool to lead parents out of the dark ages, away from the toxic effects of violence, and into the new, improved, enlightened world of happy children who willingly obeyed and complied… “Use this method, and your problems will vanish!” Naturally, I was completely oblivious to this newest ‘wonder-solution’… right-up until the moment it was sprung on me from out of the blue…

There I was all resigned to receive heavy ‘in-coming’ immediately following the dreaded panic-inducing report of dad’s belt clearing the loops on his trousers… just having been busted, yet again, for some infraction or other. Gawd, I did hate that ominous, fearful ‘flutter’ sound! But, I didn’t hear it this time… Nope, I was simply ordered to report front-and-center, which, of course, I nervously did. “Go stand in that corner and put your nose up against the wall.” Huh?

I was then escorted to the dungeon corner, my head was gently guided to the proper location, then my nose ‘lovingly’ pressed up against the wallpaper. “Stand there until we tell you to move…” But, but…?

“What the heck is this,” I wondered in complete bewilderment? In practically no time, I was fidgeting, shifting my weight from one foot to the other, wondering how long this torture might last… beginning to speculate that just maybe that flutter sound wasn’t part of the worst sequence of things that could happen after all… “This punishment stuff sure is getting tiresome… and very confusing!”

This latest assault on my delicate young psyche was unfolding a couple months before my tenth birthday. By then we already did have a TV, and it was often ‘on’ when my parents were home… as it had been at that time. I was just idly standing there languishing in a confused, dazed fog during all of this, but… it turned out to be instructive, nonetheless…

Dad, a veteran of the most recent great war, was keenly interested in government and the direction of our nation. Yep, like so many who had quite literally sacrificed so much and risked everything in its defense, my parents took good citizenship in this land of ours to be an honor-bound, sacred duty of all its members, and one that should be pursued sincerely, faithfully, and diligently… “What’s the right thing to do for all concerned” was the mantra, and certainly never simply, “What’s in it for me?” Yep, that was indeed a long, long time ago… or so it seemed…

As luck would have it, the 1956 Democratic National Convention was being televised at that moment; something never before seen by my people, so my parents had been glued to the TV watching every development with bated breath. Would Adlai Stevenson be re-nominated to run against ‘Ike’ again, or would Estes Kefauver be drafted…? The suspense created by the huge gravity of the consequences of either decision had them both gravely concerned…

Still nine years old and having lived my entire life in small town Dixie with my most recent formative years in the relatively cloistered world of small town north Alabama, I had no awareness at all what concepts like political parties, campaigns, and ‘adult suffrage’ might mean, let alone what things like ‘spontaneous demonstrations’ or ‘draft movements’ to replace the front runner on a political party’s electoral ticket with another candidate might possibly entail…? I received my inaugural introduction to all of the drama, pageantry, posturing, and pompous pontificating of ‘spontaneous’ role-playing by the various ‘actors’ who aspired to become our ruling elite…

It was all so confusing… How could either guy be so totally good, while the current president, ‘Ike’, be so bad and incompetent? Is it really possible for someone so wrong to actually become the top leader in the first place? This was scary stuff! Those folks are all grown-ups, right? No way any of them could be exaggerating or lying, so… Boy, if I did something like that, there would be no corner treatment for this bad seed! No sir, straight to ‘whelp city’ for this bad boy for sure!

“Do grown-ups really get to act like that,” I asked myself in utter disbelief as the noise on TV elevated and the rhetoric intensified …? Heck, those folks were rowdier than my classmates and I ever were! Why is it just me who’s having to stand in a dungeon-corner? And so it was that I was first exposed to a couple of important lessons; things that would later contribute to the adult I eventually became… much to the surprise of both my parents… and, frankly, to yours truly, as well…

DDT
« Last Edit: June 26, 2020, 02:15:19 PM by DDT » Logged

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cookiedough
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southern WI


« Reply #1 on: June 26, 2020, 02:20:28 PM »

I remember ONLY once getting my mouth washed out with soap by Grandma who visited me saying the F word.  I still said the F word after that, but never in front of Grandma ever again...  Roll Eyes
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Oss
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« Reply #2 on: June 26, 2020, 03:13:37 PM »

I usually found that taking off the belt and then snapping it a few times produced the desired crying result
and sometimes moisture from other places lol

Once or twice, for what I considered a minor infraction, but the wife did not I take the child in the other room
close the door and tell the child when I snap the belt to cry real loud

That had the desired effect as the kids would never again know what or when the preferred punishment would be applied.

I had only one firm corporal punishment rule, as cookie mentioned, disrespect of mother
and I only had to send the boy flying across the room once as the F word left his mouth  He was in high school at the time

Told him if you disrespect your own mother you will never be a good husband or father and may not even live to see college    As I said once was enough   He is now married and taller and much stronger than I am
And he remembers..........
« Last Edit: June 26, 2020, 03:16:56 PM by Oss » Logged

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Thunderbolt
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Worthington Springs FL.


« Reply #3 on: June 26, 2020, 04:04:53 PM »

I remember the last time the belt was applied by my Dad.  I was determined that I was going to show him that I could "take it".  I did and there were no subsequent punishment events administered in that fashion.  My parents did however start using a rather effective means of getting my attention.  Taking away some of my favorite pastimes .
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The emperor has no clothes
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« Reply #4 on: June 26, 2020, 06:09:28 PM »

Great story, Bruce. Brought back a memory of mine. I am the oldest sibling in the family. My brothers are 18 months and 36 months younger, and a little sister 9 years younger. With 3 boys all close in age, there was plenty of mischief, fighting, and yes punishments. My Dad was much like yours it sounds. One time he put all 3 of of us in separate corners. He was watching TV on the couch and fell asleep. One of my brothers thought it would be a good idea to sneak over and tickle his feet. I was petrified, I just knew we were all going to die that day. My Dad would quit snoring and almost awaken as my brother ran back to his corner. I think he did that 3 times.  Shocked He was never caught and we lived another day. But, my brother Ken has an eternal place in family lore because of that.  Smiley
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hubcapsc
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upstate

South Carolina


« Reply #5 on: June 26, 2020, 06:32:19 PM »


I loved my Daddy... I remember him getting frustrated one time when I
deserved a spanking and he realized he wasn't and  wouldn't spank me
hard enough for it to hurt... boy they whaled on them next door though!  Shocked



-Mike
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Bigwolf
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Cookeville, TN


« Reply #6 on: June 27, 2020, 09:28:41 AM »

Bruce,
Thanks again for another great read.

I remember the switches and paddle well.  Standing in the corner, not so much.


Bigwolf
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Valkorado
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« Reply #7 on: June 27, 2020, 09:49:07 AM »

Now I get how you were "conditioned" to take poli-tricks with a grain o' salt!  Great story Bruce.  I deservedly got my hide tanned a few times, BTW.

Mike sometimes a picture can sure capture a person's inner being.  Every time I've seen that pic of your dad I've thought he sure looks like he was a good, cool dude!   cooldude
« Last Edit: June 27, 2020, 09:50:45 AM by Valkorado » Logged

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