Spare the rod, spoil the child

[Hoopington]

I'm glad you haven't swatted your kids. They'll be better off for it, studies say. I know what it's like to get into a headstrong disagreement testing of power moment with a kid. You just have to remember that you're the adult, they're the child, and the very food they eat is provided for, by you. Remind them of that. Tell her that if she doesn't eat her breakfast this morning, then that's the only breakfast she'll be able to eat for a month. Or give her a choice (choices are always nice as it gets a kid to back out of the corner). She can eat this breakfast, or choose not to eat it and opt out of supper. Simple. When suppertime comes and she begs for food and you feel bad for starving her: offer her that cereal It's food. And she'll be so hungry it'll probably taste good, too.

Be smarter than the kids and you'll never have to raise a finger at them.

Anyways that's my opinion on the matter.

You would accuse someone of smacking their child "abuse" but advocate taking away breakfast for a month as punishment?

That would seem a fairly odd moral position to take.