Missokyst
Posts: 6041
Joined: 9/9/2006 Status: offline
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I would also add that many of us were potty trained well before age 2, so it is not always a case of being spanked through a diaper. In my own family we were all potty trained by our first birthday (my mom really hated changing diapers!). As far as leaving a mark, it had to be a hard smack no matter how you look at it. A 2 yr old has very firm and resilient flesh. A spank would have left a mark immediately after, but is unlikely to have remained until change of custody. And speaking of custody, clearly there are issues since the paternal grandmother has physical custody. This suggests that not only is the mom's parenting skills in question, but the childs father as well. Were it not for the fact the mark lingered on the childs body long enough for the grandmother to notice it, I would think this might be a case where one party will bring up anything to show the other person is unfit. I am amazed at how different the laws are now. When my children were small and went off for their weekend visits with their dad I would often find them with not only bruised backsides, sometimes there were welts from the hangers he used to discipline them. I took pictures of course, we went to court (in Los Angeles that was a 2 yr wait) and I was told this: "What evidence do you have of current injuries?" Of course, by that time he had flipped over to emotional and mental control. I am not sure I am an advocate of a no spanking law, but there is a vast difference between a swat on the hiney, vs something hard enough to leave a mark long after the event. As adults we have the right to engage in that sort of play, for US it is consensual. Anything that will leave a mark on the resilient flesh of a child is not discipline, it is anger and loss of control.
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pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding ~Gibran, Kahlil “The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.” ― Bob Marley
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