gratitude inducing television

so i stayed up waayyy too late last nite watching intervention on A & E and twittering (like that's something new). anyway, this morning, i woke up profoundly grateful that i have a relatively decent family--aside from my fathead brother and one profoundly psycho cousin of my dad's. i also found myself really glad that i don't think twice about makin' an ass of myself in kroger if it means that my son will take me at my word and straighten his narra ass out!

which leads me to this random mental chunklet, why are we as parents so embarassed about having to correct our children? i mean, everybody's kids show their butts from time to time, and it's usually in a place or at a time when they think mama's not gonna correct them. but you see, i was raised by a woman who regularly threatened to "beat the sleeves offa" me. and she meant that shit. and she didn't care where we were when she did it. granted, that was back in the day when all the teachers at my school had an "enforcer" and corporal punishment was not only accepted, but expected. now, i'm not sayin' i'm in favor of beatin' chilluns, but back then, everybody understood that 1.) children would push their limits, and 2.)adults were responsible for reigning them back in. there was no shame in it.

now people are worried about hurting their kids' self esteem and their wee lil feelins--well, honey, ya gotta get the little darlin's used to it, because it will happen sooner or later. and if they haven't learned how to deal with it, they're gonna be in trouble. giving your child an honest appreciation for his strengths and weaknesses is a lot kinder than promoting an unrealistic overinflated over indulged ego. discipline, limits, rules--kids need that shit, desperately. there's no shame in a child's misbehavior. that's how they test their boundaries. parents, there's no shame in enforcing those boundaries. it's ok to loudly tell your child, "you need to act like you have some sense!! you just lost your psp for a week and bought yourself 10 minutes with your nose in a corner!!" for some reason, my six year old HATES the corner. i admit, i have found corners in walmart and put the boy in check in the store.

no shame in it people, check ya kids before you find yourself on A & E cryin' ya eyes out like ol' Tammy.

peace and blessings!!