I saw a Facebook post flying around last week about kids growing up back in my day (50s, 60s and 70s), playing in the dirt, getting a smack on the backside and the cane at school, with most of us turning out okay.
It reminded me of something that happened to me in the mid-80s when we were out for dinner with a footy mate of mine and his wife, who were desperately trying to have kids.
Lucas, our young bloke, was playing up.
So, I gave him a light slap on his backside, which was followed by a slight outburst of tears from him, but everything was okay.
Alas, I got a lecture from our friends about smacking kids and how bad it was for them.
They went on to tell me that I should read the book they had on parenting – and why you shouldn’t discipline children in the manner I had just exhibited.
I replied that I hadn’t read the book, obviously.
Nor had my Dad, as I was on the receiving end many times as a child of something far worse than what I had just dished out.
It was nearly all deserved, mind you, and I didn’t feel like it had adversely impacted on my youth or as an adult and I was pretty sure Lucas would be the same.
They were adamant I was wrong and it sort of wound the evening up pretty quickly.
We never socialised with them much after that.
But a few years later, I got a call as they had moved away but they were visiting the Coast and wanted to know if we wanted to go out to dinner to meet their two-year old son.
I didn’t really want to go but I was curious how the instruction book on parenting turned out.
So, we caught up.
I can’t remember what the kid’s name was, but let’s call him little Johnny.
So, after one smashed glass, some food thrown off the table, tantrums and lots of “don’t do that, Johnny” and “I know, mate, it’s not your fault: I shouldn’t have put the glass there – don’t be upset with me”.
After about an hour of this, I couldn’t help myself and commented on how well the book on parenting was going and I really wished I had listened to them when they initially brought it up.
Needless to say, we never saw them again.
Yes, you are right: they were way ahead of their time.
Whoever wrote that book must be really proud of where we are now with owning our mistakes and being respectful in the community. Well done.
Ashley Robinson is chairman of Sunshine Coast Falcons and Sunshine Coast Thunder Netball and a lifetime Sunshine Coast resident. The opinions expressed are those of the author. These are not the views of Sunshine Coast News publishers.
