Originally posted by eskimo2
Rip,
“Simple” was part of “primal, instinctive and simple”. Combined with these other two words the implication is that the parent is resorting to primitive behavior instead of thinking the problem through.
Girls tend to have their own issues, and most importantly, every child is different. My 2 year old is a hundred times more defiant than her big sister (just now she got out of her booster chair and sat on her unfinished dinner; she was then sent to time out without dessert). I do have boys, (about 240 of them, ages 5 to 14) and have a very good idea what they are like. I discipline both boys and girls five days a week.
You say that you only spank as a last resort, when all else fails. I can’t believe that you have tried EVERYTHING. You indicated that discipline for little ones needs to be immediate. When you resort to spanking, do you do so immediately? If so, it sounds as if you didn’t really take the time to try everything else.
eskimo
Well, all I can say is the results speak for themselves. My 2nd grader is doing late-term 3rd grade math, only one other child in his 2nd grade class is doing this. He's had all "3" on his report cards since kindergarten (measured "1, 2 and 3" for performance)
My pre-schooler read at age 5, alone with no parental help (I love flash cards!). No other kids are doing this in his class, mom and dad must read to them. The school nurse called me 3 weeks ago to let us know that my 2nd grader was coming home with a cut on his cheek, told me the low down of what happened. 5 min later she called back and said "your son is the most respectful, polite child I've ever met in 20 years of being a school nurse! I just had to tell you!"
So, in essence, yeah, couple spanks now and then isn't going to hurt them, and the positive reinforcement along with spending maximum time with them lessens the chances of of having to resort to negative punishment.
Did I tell you the oldest son has hit 10 home runs and has a .889 batting avg. after 8 games so far this season? Proud father. We've taught them respect, we've taught them patience, and we've taught them to be polite. When they got out of hand, they knew what the consequences were, and those times they got out of hand were few and in between because no one likes a spanking.

On the other hand, Austin (just one example) who's rarely disciplined, never spanked, is doing
poorly in school, is a bully, constantly in trouble, worse player on our baseball team, and is reading kindergarten level as a 2nd grader. Thats just
one of the examples of poor parenting, lack of negative punishment I could give you.
And, girls are a breeze at this age, I envy you.

(The neighbors have 2 girls identical ages as my sons...)