And that is your right AAAAA. I have no doubt that your children did well by you. I mean that,,you sound like a wonderfull Mother,,I have read many of your posts.

My personal dilema arises out of our ability to give children this status of accepting violence and that interesting moment in time when we decide this status is no longer applicable...10, 12, 13..??????When they are able to slap back? Then we decide all of a sudden that talking is good....

If you ran a red light and cars were scretching left and right..an officer observes this,,stops you and comes up to your drivers window and slaps you with his hand,,not with a ticket. He explains that what you did was dangerous and people could have suffered terribly. You would sue him and by our laws,,you would win. Our laws believe the compulsory ticket and its associated consequences are sufficient to change behavior.

Why is this different for young children...

Lenny