Ambitious,driven, and often a controversial decision-maker,
but deep down a gentle soul just trying to do the best he could.
These words describe many people I have known, but one in particular.
My father.
Many people have negative things to say of my dad, but I know him better than most.
Some disgruntled people would say that to know him is to hate him,
but to this I say, if you hate him you don't know him at all.
My father raised seven children the best he knew how.
The fact that we didn't always like his methods of chastisement
only goes to show how much we needed it.
We were often an immature bunch, and seven immature kids, well you can imagine.
Now, getting to the earlier description of my dad.
I say ambitious because he worked his fingers to the bone.
I say driven because he never let anyone or anything tear him down.
and finally I say controversial because more than a couple of times he took
"spare the rod and spoil the child" quite literally.
Ignore for a moment the fact that these days it is often frowned upon to spank a child,
and hear me out.
If you chastise a child with a scolding, he learns and does not die.
If you spank your child, he learns, and again he does not die.
However, if you allow your child to run rampant in the streets,
and he gets hit by a car because you failed to tell him no,
then in all likelihood, he'll probably die.
Which would you rather, that with a firm swat on the behind you taught your child the meaning of no?
Or that he died because he was never taught the meaning of no,
ran out and did something he never should have done to begin with?
The next time you think to criticize someone for spanking their child,
I suggest you think about that, you might think differently.
