Punishment is a thing that tends to be overlooked but heavily endorsed in some dire situations. While I was at college, during one of my interview exams, a Professor asked me if I would punish my children. In the hypothetical case I had any children at all. It was a tough question. But it made me remember all those instances where I was punished. Must of them I deserved for sure.
Truth be told, I know very well I was too much child for my mom. I don't tend to bring my father into these matters since his help in during all the child-raising business is mediocre at best. But I reckon there are some things to be said about the lady who took charge of all this things.
During this question, I took some time to go back to the day I received the worse beating I got. I can't remember getting hit that hard any other time. If it happened, maybe I took some brain damage and that was deleted from my system. Anyways, the story is quite simple. I used to go swimming. It was an interesting practice. I even got some medals for competitions. But there was one time in which I left some things in the restroom where we changed. My goggles and bathing suit to be exact. Mom was furious and did tell me she was buying the gear again, but I had to be more careful.
Of course the obvious thing happened. I forgot my things in the restrooms, again! Also, I had forgotten to take out my things and hung them in the rope for drying that we have in the backyard (very common thing to have in a house, not a drying rack but a rope that crossed along the yard). When I went to check for my things in the bag, I didn't find it. And I knew I had screw it up. Mom came back checking and found me looking at the empty bad. She started yelling and tried to grab me, but I ran to a hall that goes to one side of the house that connects to the front yard. But the door was closed. I knew what was coming.
People will understand this rhythm of getting hit and having things spelled at you. I know it happens for us in LATAM, but I don't know if it's something common in the rest of the world. I didn't just get hit by her hand or fists. Hell, not even with a belt. That would have been better. She had grabbed a broom. And during that whole thing she broke the stick on the broom hitting me. I was just scared enough to cover my head with my arms.
And I stayed there until it was dinner time.
I got new gear for swimming and never again lost these things for the duration of my swimming pool years.
Pretty effective method to be honest.
Anyways, after reliving that experience, I told the Professor that it was a tough question. I shared this story with her. And asked her to tell me when is punishment too hard for the actual consequences of an act. When does it comes just cruelty? Or in my case, when is it just driven by blind rage?
Would I punish my children? Not sure. Given the fact that I don't want to have any, the question seems to be void of meaning. Maybe I would if that were the case. But certainly, with a background in Teaching, my idea of giving a lesson would be more on the grounds of making them understand the consequences of their action rather than just going into blows.
Lesson on that moment was about being more careful about my things and surroundings. I relive the trauma each time I forget something at home. But the real lesson comes on trying not to escalate things to such levels.
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- Photos 📷: Redmi Note 13
- Editing 🎬: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
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