My mother was a vocal supporter of corporal punishment, but for all her talking she has never spanked my siblings, and me only once. Instead she found ways of punishment that left a more lasting memory then the short sting of a swat on our rumps. One of the most memorable of these occasions occurred when I was four.

    In the early 70’s my mother attended college during the day while my sister was in school and I was in daycare. One day at daycare I watched an extremely tired mother attempt to pick up her daughter. The little girl asked, "Momma are we going to McDonalds for dinner?" The mother replied, "Honey, not tonight. Momma has to run a few errands and then we have to go home and cook dinner for Daddy." "But I wanna go." "Susie, I said not tonight. Maybe, if you are a good girl we can go tomorrow." Susie immediately dropped to the floor, kicking and screaming, "I want to go to McDonalds."

    No amount of pleading or scolding her mother tried stopped Susie’s tantrum. Finally her mother gave in, "Okay, Susie, lets go to McDonalds." Susie stopped yelling and smiling she grabbed her mother’s hand and they left. To say I was amazed would be inaccurate; I was delighted that anything I wanted could be had by throwing a tantrum.

    That day my mother picked me up early from daycare because we were going to Sears & Roebuck to pay on a Christmas Layaway. I was excited by the lights and 1decorations, and as we walked through the toy section on the way to the Layaway Department, I saw a toy I had to have. It was a white and red telephone whose bells rang as it was pulled along on a string. Looking lovingly up at my mother I asked, "Mama, can I have that telephone?"

    She replied, "Baby, not now, but if you are a good girl maybe Santa will bring it to you." "But Mama, I want that telephone right now." Her eyes narrowed and her hand tightened on mine. "Becky, you can’t have that telephone today, but if you misbehave you can have a spanking."

    By now we were standing in the long Holiday line in the Layaway Department, and I figure it was now or never. I lay down on the ground and began screaming, "I want that telephone," over and over again. Weary Christmas shoppers looked as my mother calmly said, "Becky, you better get up by the count of three or else. One…Two…Three."

    Nothing. I was still in full tantrum. So then she lay down beside me on the floor, and began kicking and screaming, "I want a new car, I want a new house, I want some jewelry, I want…" Shocked, I stood up.

    "Mama, stop. Mama get up," I tearfully pleaded.

    She stood, and brushed herself off. At first stunned, the others waiting in line began to sporadically clap, and before I knew it they were cheering and laughing and patting my mother on her back. She blushed and took a little bow and the next thirty minutes in line was pure misery for me as various parents leaving the Layaway Department, shake their heads at me and say with a smile, "Your mom got you good. I bet you’ll never try that again."

    And I didn’t, because it left a lasting mental picture more effective then any physical mark.

    我媽從來都說她支持對不聽話的孩子進行體罰，可盡管她口頭上說了那么多，她就從來沒有打過我們幾姊妹（除了一次打了我屁股之外）。她總能想出一些方法來懲罰我們，而這些方法遠比巴掌打在我們屁股上更痛、更持久。我記得最清楚的一次發生在我四歲那年。

    七十年代初期，媽媽白天在大學里念書，而我姐姐當時在學校念書，我則上了托兒所。有一天，我在托兒所里看到一位疲憊不堪的母親來接她的女兒回家。只聽那個小女孩問：“媽媽，我們晚上去麥當勞，好嗎？”那位母親回答說：“今晚不行，寶貝。媽媽還有事情要做，做完后還要回家給你爸爸做飯去。”“但是我想去嘛！”“蘇茜，今晚不行。你聽話的話，媽媽明天帶你去。” 小女孩聽完馬上就坐在地上，踢著腳嚷了起來：“我要去麥當勞，我要去麥當勞……”

    不管那位母親怎么好說歹說，那女孩還是不依。最后那位母親讓步了：“好吧，我帶你到麥當勞去。” 蘇茜馬上停止了叫喊，拉住她媽媽的手高高興興地離開了。我驚奇地看著這一幕，心里簡直樂開了花——原來只要耍耍脾氣就可以得到我想要的東西啦！

    那一天我媽媽提前到了托兒所來接我，因為我們要去西爾斯商場拿我們預定的圣誕禮物。一路上，我被商場里花花綠綠的燈飾吸引住了。在路過玩具專賣區的時候，我一下子就看上了一件玩具。那是一個紅白相間的電話機，只要拉一下機上的繩子就會發出動聽的鈴聲。我抬頭很乖巧地對媽媽說：“媽媽，能買那個玩具電話機給我嗎？”

    媽媽回答說：“寶寶，現在不行。如果你表現好的話，說不定圣誕老人會送你一個。”“但我現在就想要嘛！” “貝基，今天不能買那個電話機，如果你再胡鬧的話我就要打你屁股了。” 媽媽皺起眉頭握緊了我的手。#p#分頁標題#e#

    我們當時在定購部收銀處那里排隊，很多人排起了長隊準備交錢。我當時就覺得機不可失，不爭取的話電話機就沒指望了。我一屁股坐在地上尖叫了起來：“我要電話機，我要電話機！”這么一嚷，周圍購物的人們都回過頭來。只聽見我媽媽很平靜地說：“貝基，當我數到三的時候你最好給我站起來，一……二……三。”

    我沒有起來，還在繼續發著我的脾氣。這時媽媽也在我身邊坐下，開始踢著腳叫了起來：“我想要部新車，我想要座新房子，還有珠寶，我還要……”我嚇得馬上站了起來。

    “媽媽，不要這樣，媽媽，你起來啊！”我淚眼汪汪地請求說。

    母親站起來拍了拍衣服，愣住了的人群開始稀稀拉拉地鼓起掌來。我還沒醒悟過來怎么回事，他們已經歡快地笑了起來，還不時地拍媽媽的肩膀表示鼓勵。媽媽臉紅紅的，向大家鞠了個躬表示感謝。你都不知道在接下來的半個多小時我有多么難受的。人們在離開商店前都會沖我搖頭，并笑嘻嘻地對我說： “你媽媽是為你好，我敢打賭你以后再也不敢這樣做了！”

    我后來的確沒有這么做了，因為這實在太刻骨銘心了，那教訓比身上的疤痕還更深刻。