Spanking . . .

Oh, it's been a while!

Hi, everyone.  Sorry, it's been so long between blogs.  By way of explanation, I have been updating and editing my book about Robert.  It's finally finished.  I did submit it to an agent who said, and I quote, that the story was "remarkable and the material . . . compelling and very well done."  However, she passed on the project.  She felt that because I had neither a "platform" nor the ability to "publicize myself," she could not successfully place the book.

Sounds like a Catch-22 -- I can't be published unless I'm already famous or published. . . . 

So, right now, I'm cleaning the book up and getting it ready for self-publication.  It's got a tremendous amount of research in it, and I'd hate to see it go to waste.

Okay, so much for the update.

Did anyone catch the article entitled, "Spanking Linked to Mental Health?"  (Newsday, Feb. 7, 2012 at A38).  The Canadian Medical Association Journal concluded that "virtually without exception . . .  physical punishment was associated with higher levels of aggression against parents, siblings, peers and spouses."  The study also noted that anxiety, depression and drug and alcohol abuse also were linked to physical punishment.

I must admit, that when Robert was young, in desperation to control his behavior, he got spanked a couple of times.  Thankfully, we stopped this practice almost immediately.  Even though it was the way I was brought up (and I like to think I'm fairly well adjusted), and we were "doing it for his own good," there was just something so abhorrent about striking another person -- especially your own defenseless child -- that we couldn't do it.

So much for "spare the rod, spoil the child," huh?