When my kids were young, very young, and tried to get attention or just flat mess up, their excuse was always , "I WAS JOKING'. This line of inappropriate behavior was always the same. The same vocal expression was ," Maaama, I was joking..I'm sorry". The line was drawn pretty hard for punishment by me. My husband, not so much. He was more of a kids will be kids type of person, whereas I wanted accountability for actions that were clearly wrong and I would add up the extra chores, the television ..off limits...loss of privileges. It was always about accountability and if it came to respect, well then we both took a hard line.
Respect for your elders or lack thereof would earn you raking yard, scrubbing baseboards and
sometimes a month of washing the car and I would not back down. I do not mean one or the other but all three. No exceptions.
I remember when Brandy was 13, she decided to get a pretty smart mouth and Grandaddy was showing signs of dementia. I heard her say something like," I can't deal with Grandaddy anymore , he is getting all crazy." "Yeah he is just a crazy old man". This was in 2003. She was on that phone and then had the gall to smart off to me. She was privileged at that moment and time. She was feeling all entitled and big because she didn't have time for her family because SHE mattered more. OK...let the story begin....
This encounter happened after I asked her to take Grandaddy's plate downstairs to his room with his decaf coffee. Daddy was watching "In the Heat of the night". He may watch it and he may talk to the wall. This behavior had just started She had just gotten that cell phone. Daddy had walked upstairs and heard this comment. She turned to him and said, " laughingly, "Oh Granddaddy, I was just joking. He had tears welled up in his eyes. I was furious !!!!!!!!!! I hugged Daddy and if looks could kill Brandy would be laying face down in the kitchen floor. He started laughing and said, "Ah that is ok sugar." I said, ah Daddy, you know teenagers, she is mad because she knows you and me won't let her go that party. His thought pattern quickly seemed to change and said, " Oh the party with the boys..right.....you bet. She is too young.
There was no party. It was a moment of trying to grab the reigns of hurt and intervention. I then said , " I got your supper here and some coffee, you want to stay up here or go back downstairs and he chose to eat upstairs. He had his own little apt. downstairs.
I had to not upset Daddy and I had to deal with this kid immediately but not too soon as I was very angry.
That 13 year old knew she was in huge trouble with her mouth of jokes. It was all a joke. In her bully smart mouth, this was her excuse. SHE WAS JUST JOKING Sure she was.
I thought to myself of the things that would have happened to me had I disrespected an elder or a sick person. The picture in my mind was not pretty. I would have been jack slapped across a room and then got a whipping for trying to say it was a joke. My Mother would have taken her hand and slapped my face. I would have had a belt taken to my butt with no less than 3 licks. This is how discipline was rendered in the fifties and sixties in the south in most homes. Corporal punishment was part of dicipline. I do not feel abused. My sisters never had to be reprimanded as much as me as I was stubborn and hardheaded. I was NEVER cruel because I knew what the outcome would be. We did not discipline in this fashion but I really thought about it that day.
I went into my daughter's room and demanded the cell phone. Equal to a whipping in my day. She did not get it returned for over a year. I gave her a list of work starting with cleaning baseboards for one month by hand, and I said, " Not one word of complaint do I want to hear". Every time you want to talk back and get direspectful, the punishment will increase. YOU DO NOT hurt people. YOU do not talk to people, especially grownups like they are nothing and you NEVER EVER cross me on this line.
jump below the squiggly please
Why am I telling you this story? This is the bizarre world of pranks and jokes that the republican party and Mitt Romney has lowered themselves to. This is the grownup in the room that wants to lead the country. He is a 13 year old teenager with a mean mouth. What happened with his jokes of birther and especially the Clint Eastwood debacle is a clear sign that these people are deranged in belittling other people, especially those up in age and IMO would abuse the elderly in a nursing home and call it a joke. They did not even comb his hair before sending Clint out on the stage to make a fool of himself. He showed all signs of early dementia. Mitt Romney...You are a sick, twisted ass and your religion and all of the Mormon church and charitable givings can not compensate for your lack of respect, and juvenile excuses of "It was a joke".
Mitt, you never had enough discipline in your life and your are cruel. You need therapy, not a seat at the grown up table and definitely not fit to lead. Somebody needs to take away Mitt's microphone and stage as that to me is equivalent to a teenager's cell phone. This is no longer a presidential race with grown ups regarding the republican party. This is a cruel and embarrasing time in our history and who would have thought Mitt Romney could be more cruel than GWB? I am aghast and see the problem clearly. Mitt and his tea party crowd is a 13 year old teenage bully.