Tough Love
My mother made many spur-of-the-moment decisions in discipline while raising us five kids.
When my brother, Steve, was 4 years old, he was swinging on the refrigerator door, and pulled the whole thing over on himself. I had no idea how strong my mother was, until I saw her pick the refrigerator up with one hand, and pull my brother out from under it, with the other. Luckily, it had landed on only one side of his body and his head was clear.
When he was 11, he was a natural born athlete. He played on a little league team, played basketball in driveways of neighborhood kids He played dodge ball, catch, kickball, rode his bike with his hands in the air and jumped to try to reach the door jams in our house (the latter caused some minor discomfort, and major embarrassment, when he caught the pocket of his jeans on the doorknob, mid-jump). Needless to say he was busy, fidgety, and an accident waiting to happen. He had a habit of rocking back on the kitchen chair when seated. My mother commented, calmly, “You’re going to fall on your ass.” This scene played out on several different occasions, with my mother repeating her warning, “You’re going to fall on your ass.” He wasn’t getting the message, so one evening when he was rocking back in his chair, my mother passed his chair and gave it a push. Down he went. And as he sat on the floor, with his mouth hanging open in shock, my mother quietly said, “I TOLD you you were going to fall on your ass.” My mother made many spur-of-the-moment decisions in discipline, while raising us five kids. She was nothing, if not creative. Steve grew up relatively injury free, surprisingly enough, and so did the rest of us. My mother was not a mean person, and she loved us fiercely, but she was not one to put up with our shenanigans.
God bless your mom and all moms. We don't receive an instruction manual, so we wing it. We make it up as we go along, doing the best we can, hoping we are not damaging our kids. Thanks for this funny story, Sharon.