I've lost a friend over smacking. She doesn't talk to me any more. Down to her asking me if Liebs smacked me back, as her lad (same age) was doing that. I said no, we don't smack. That was it. I saw her face. I added there was no point, Liebs enjoys it - didn't want to make her feel put down, after all. She left soon after that and hasn't spoken to me since.

The more I thought about it - the more I'm happy my friends who stay with me are the ones who think about how they parent their children, don't blindly do as their parents do and consider their children as humans. Humans who can understand, discuss, have motivations and reasons...

And Liebling was nearly late for school today. We talked about why (he snuck the DS into his room and was playing on that until late) and how this won't happen again - such as by not leaving the DS upstairs in future. He only had one breakfast this morning instead of two because he didn't get up in time. We discussed how sleep is necessary so he isn't tired in the morning. How an early night may be on the cards tonight to help him catch up with his sleep.

Parents hitting children teaches fear, a need to hide things and compliance. It does not teach reasoning, thinking, compromise or pride in yourself.