It had been prompted by my son's attempt to disobey me by climbing up the stairs by himself. When I picked him up off the stairs and sat him back down on the floor, he threw what, for him, counts as a tantrum: He arches his back, gives a little yell, and we lay him down on the floor. He lays there, I ignore him and walk away, and 9 times out of 10, instead of continuing to cry, he realizes it just isn't working, and gets up and follows me.
After watching this procedure, my not quite 3-year-old niece came up to me. "Is he going to get a spanking?" "No, honey," I told her. "It's over now. See? He's already over there playing with the toys now. Do you wanna go play with him?"
This is what prompted my son's grandfather to ask if we ever had, or ever did spank him. And, on the rare occassion, we do. There's just certain guidelines we follow.
