I’m in neither camp personally. I overheard my dad joke to my mom about how the best time to stop beating your kids is when they’re old enough to fight back, and so I learned to fight against it, physically. Of course he didn’t stop at first, I was small and weak, until one day soon after I cut his eye with my fingernail. That’s when he finally decided to tone it down.
And yet when that happened, I wasn’t happy. I thought I was a monster for putting him in the hospital.
Who was happy when their parents came home, and who sometimes peed their pants from sheer terror?
That’s a real distinction to make.
I’m in neither camp personally. I overheard my dad joke to my mom about how the best time to stop beating your kids is when they’re old enough to fight back, and so I learned to fight against it, physically. Of course he didn’t stop at first, I was small and weak, until one day soon after I cut his eye with my fingernail. That’s when he finally decided to tone it down.
And yet when that happened, I wasn’t happy. I thought I was a monster for putting him in the hospital.