To spank or not to spank?

[MTL]

How bizarre that you should say that.  Last night I dreamt that I walked into a library where there were four other people and I sat down and looked around at them, and said, "Hey...do you realize that we're The Breakfast Club?"

They looked around at each other and laughed and agreed. 

I was in all black, like Ally Sheedy's character.
There was an athlete, a preppy girl, a brainy type, and a metalhead guy.

It wasn't the actors from the movie, and nobody I know IRL...just the characters.

How very weird you would say that, the very day after I had that dream.

Thanks MTL - - our stories are very similar.  Like you, I wasn't hunting for sympathy.  It was a long time ago.  When I hear colleagues say things like "I was spanked and I turned out fine" I sometimes indulge in sharing.  I think they need to know that there are a LOT of kids out there that have a completely different idea of what "spanking" is.   I think the risk of falling into the area of abuse is very high, even with intelligent, deliberate, reasonable, loving parents.

And I chose this post to respond to because it was short, and I like the Breakfast Club reference.  I'd have to be the little wallflower somewhat-brainy band nerd though . . . we might have to re-write it if you let me in "the club"!    

Yeah, absolutely!

I guess that was really the point that I was trying to make;

There is discipline.

And there is abuse.

And then there is this grey area in between,

where what is genuinely intended as discipline,
crosses the line into abuse, (my case)

or

what is really just plain old abuse
masquerades as discipline. (what you described, IMO)